Dora Vrdlovec is Soroptimist International’s Lead Representative to the United Nations in Vienna. In this week’s SoroptiVoice blog, she writes about celebrating 50 years of women in space, marking the contribution of pioneering women and looking forward to greater female participation in the future.

Fifty years ago on 16 June 1963, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova  made her historic space flight as the first woman in outer space when she was launched aboard the space shuttle Vostok 6, orbiting the earth 48 times. Since that day almost 60 women have orbited our planet.

On  12-21 June 2013 the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) at the UN Vienna organized a special panel on the theme “Space building”  to commemorate this fiftieth anniversary of  Tereshkova’s historic space flight from the perspective of women pioneers in advanced space and scientific endeavours. It was an occasion to pay tribute to all astronauts and cosmonauts, the inspiring women and men who continue exploring new frontiers, bringing the benefits of space exploration to humanity.

At the  opening session, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, Yury Fedotov, recognized the value of women space explorers for future generations:

"Space science and technology have made important contributions to areas as diverse as health and disaster management down  to climate change mitigation and development. The discussion here today makes clear that the peaceful and beneficial use of space relies not only on cooperation between states, but  also on the equal participation of women and men.

Valentina Tereshkova  encouraged more women to take part in space programmes and in technological studies:

"A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop any further without the active participation of women" .

On the  13^th  June  the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)  and the Natural History Museum of Vienna held an extraordinary public event: Women in Space the next 50 years, moderated by cosmonaut Dimitru-Dorin Prunariu, President of the Executive Board, Association of Space Explorers.

The very famous and enthusiastic speakers were:

• Roberta Bondar was Canada’s first female astronaut and first neurologist in space. Over a decade she was NASA’s Head of Space Medicine; her research field was human recovery from space exposure and the effects of microgravity on a variety of organisms.
• Janet Kavandy a chemist,  was 3 times in space orbiting the Earth 535 times; she has been to the Russian Mir Space Station. She served also on a mission that helped create an accurate 3D topographical map of the Earth’ s surface.
• Chiaki Mukai is the first female Japanese astronaut.  She studied microgravity in space and, being a cardiovascular doctor, conducted medical experiments on how spaceflight effects the human body and human aging process.
• Liu Yang is a military pilot and the first Chinese women in space; she spent 13 days conducting experiments in space medicine before returning to Earth.

To the question "where we will be in 50 years?" they all answered "on Mars".

Manned missions to the moon are scheduled after 2020 by many countries. Medical countermeasures for space radiation outside the terrestrial magnetism environment and 1/6 gravity are required to conduct long duration manned lunar missions safely. Collaboration with appropriate research institutes, universities and organisations are very important.

All these inspiring women had a strong interest in space since childhood. They worked and studied very hard and have been always committed to their chosen path. What counts at the end is not the polarisation between men and women, but qualifications. More women need to get interested in physics, biology, engineering and all  scientific and technological subjects, contributing in this way to the advancement of women and girls.

Read more about the UN celebrations of 50 years of women in space

Image: Valentina Tereshkova (Source: Freebase http://www.freebase.com/m/02c42hr)