Valentina Ponomaryova

Above: signed photo and cover from Valentina Ponomaryova.

Before the flight of Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6, Khrushchev approved the idea of an "all women" Voskhod Flight. So, in March 1962, from an original group of more then 400 candidates, 5 women were choosen for the first women cosmonaut group, and Ponomaryova was in that group. After the flight of Tereshkova, the group of 5 women continued training for a future Voskhod 4 mission, to take place in 1966/67. The crews for that Voskhod 4 flight, later cancelled were: Solovyova and Ponomaryova (prime crew) and Kuznetsova and Yorkina (back-up). After the the cancelation of the Voskhod 4 mission, the group was eventually dismissed in 1969, and for many years the soviet sources told that only 4 women ever took part in that training group. Finally, in late 1987, the identity of the 5 woman was revealed.

Graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute, 1957; graduated from Zhukovsky-Academy, Monino, 1967; candidate of technical sciences degree, 1974; was married to cosmonaut Yuri Ponomaryov; was selected from Air Forces as cosmonaut on 03.04.1962 (Vostok); OKP (cosmonaut basic training): 4/62 - 29.11.1962; was assigned as Commander for Voskhod 4; later research scientist at Institute of Natural Historic Sciences.