Svetlana Savitskaya was just the second woman to reach space. She was also a record-breaking jet pilot. Savitskaya was born in Moscow in 1948, and likewise started skydiving as a teenager. Her father, a high-ranking officer in the Soviet military, was allegedly unaware of her skydiving exploits. However, he soon supported her passion for flying jets, and Savitskaya quickly found herself competing in aerobatic competitions.
In 1970, while she was still in her early 20s, Savitskaya won the prestigious competition: the World Aerobatic Championship. That flying prowess helped her earn a spot as a cosmonaut, and she went on to earn her astronaut wings in 1982. That made her just the second woman to travel to space, following Tereshkova’s in 1963. Unlike Tereshkova, however, Savitskaya did get to fly a second time, making her the first woman to travel to space multiple times.
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