SVETLANA SAVITSKAYA: First Woman to Walk in Space!
http://great.russian-women.net/Svetlana_Savitskaya.shtml
On July 25, 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. She and another cosmonaut performed repairs on the MIR space station during a spacewalk that lasted several hours. It was Svetlana's last flight in space, on Soyuz T-12.
Svetlana was born on August 8, 1948. She became interested in flight at a very young age. She applied to pilot's school when she was only 16, but was turned down. She resorted to parachuting in secret, hiding her activities from her parents. Her secret eventually was revealed when her father found a jumper's knife in her school bag. Instead of forbidding her, however, Svetlana's father encouraged her hobby.
Svetlana's successful career has often been credited not to her skill but to her father. Yeveniy Savitsky was a World War II ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and Deputy Commander of Soviet Air Defense. His influence is frequently associated with her success.
However, Svetlana was obviously a skilled flier and jumper. By the age of 17 she was making jumps from nearly 15,000 meters, setting records, and had logged nearly 450 jumps. After school she enrolled at the Moscow Aviation Institute. She eventually became certified to fly 20 different aircraft!
Svetlana left the space agency in 1994, having logged over 19 days in space.
http://www.spacefame.org/savitskaya.html
