Svetlana Savitskaya
Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya
9 min read
Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya was the second woman to travel to space and the first to perform a spacewalk (EVA). She completed two missions aboard the Salyut 7 space station in 1982 and 1984.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- 1982: first spaceflight aboard Salyut 7, second woman in space after Valentina Tereshkova
- 1984: second mission on Salyut 7, became the first woman to perform a spacewalk (EVA)
- High-level test pilot before her cosmonaut career
- Holder of multiple world aviation records before joining the space program
Works & Achievements
Savitskaya won the World Aerobatic Championship in Hullavington (United Kingdom) at just 22 years old, outperforming seasoned pilots from around the world. This victory established her as one of the Soviet Union's finest aviators and directly contributed to her selection into the cosmonaut corps.
Before joining the space program, Savitskaya set sixteen world records in aviation, particularly in speed and altitude across various aircraft types. These exceptional achievements were a testament to her extraordinary piloting abilities.
Savitskaya became the second woman in history to travel to space during this eight-day mission aboard the Salyut 7 space station. She conducted scientific experiments in microgravity and demonstrated that a woman could work effectively in space.
During her second spaceflight, Savitskaya performed a spacewalk lasting 3 hours and 35 minutes alongside Vladimir Dzhanibekov, becoming the first woman to work in the vacuum of space. She carried out welding and metal-processing experiments, paving the way for future orbital maintenance work.
Savitskaya worked as a military test pilot on high-performance Soviet aircraft, logging more than 4,000 flight hours across over twenty different aircraft types. This rare experience was one of her most valuable qualifications for the space program.
Following her spaceflights, Savitskaya was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and later to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, where she championed defense and space policy issues. She thus proved that her public commitment extended far beyond the boundaries of Earth's atmosphere.
Anecdotes
During her first flight in 1982, Svetlana Savitskaya arrived aboard the Salyut 7 station where the male crew greeted her by presenting her with a kitchen apron — a "joke" that, by her own account, she did not find funny. She replied that she had come to work, not to cook, highlighting the gender tensions that persisted even within the Soviet space program.
On July 25, 1984, Savitskaya spent 3 hours and 35 minutes outside the spacecraft, becoming the first woman to perform a spacewalk. She used a multi-purpose tool to weld, cut, and braze metals on the exterior of the Salyut 7 station, proving that these delicate operations were achievable in the vacuum of space.
Before becoming a cosmonaut, Savitskaya was already a legend of Soviet aviation: she won the world aerobatic championship in 1970 at the age of 22 and held sixteen world aviation records. Her father, Marshal Yevgeny Savitsky, was himself a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union and a fighter ace during World War II.
When Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June 1983, the Soviet-American rivalry took on a new dimension. Savitskaya's spacewalk on July 25, 1984 beat that of American astronaut Kathryn Sullivan (October 11, 1984) by nearly three months — a new "race for records" between the two superpowers, this time centered on women.
After her spaceflight career, Svetlana Savitskaya entered politics and served in the Supreme Soviet and then in the Russian State Duma, where she championed issues of national defense and space policy. She remains one of the most decorated women in Soviet history, holding the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin, along with numerous military distinctions.
Primary Sources
Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya joined the Salyut 7 orbital station on August 20, 1982, becoming the second woman in history to travel to space. The mission proceeded in accordance with the established scientific program.
On July 25, 1984, cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya conducted an open-space EVA lasting 3 hours and 35 minutes, performing experiments in welding, cutting, and metal brazing outside the Salyut 7 orbital station.
The results of the Soyuz T-12 mission demonstrated that the female body tolerates prolonged microgravity conditions and extravehicular activities in a manner fully comparable to that of trained male cosmonauts.
I went to space not to represent my sex, but because I was the best available candidate. Competence has no gender.
Key Places
Birthplace of Svetlana Savitskaya, born on August 8, 1948. It was in the Soviet capital that she grew up, received her early training, and built her political career after her space missions.
The Soviet cosmonaut training center located 25 km northeast of Moscow. It was here that Savitskaya trained for years, using simulators reproducing living conditions aboard the Salyut 7 space station and hydrostatic pools simulating weightlessness.
The Soviet Soyuz rocket launch site from which Savitskaya lifted off for her two missions in 1982 and 1984. Located in the Kazakh steppe, this cosmodrome was the departure point for all Soviet crewed missions.
The Soviet space station orbiting at approximately 300 km altitude where Savitskaya stayed during both of her missions. It was outside this station, on July 25, 1984, that she performed the first spacewalk by a woman in history.
The military flight test base where Savitskaya worked as a test pilot before being selected as a cosmonaut. There she flew numerous types of military aircraft, accumulating thousands of hours of high-performance flight time.
