The 60th Anniversary of the First Space Flight of a Female Cosmonaut

Obverse

a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation and a semicircular inscription above it along the rim: ‘РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ’ (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed with paired diamonds on both sides, under the coat of arms there are the chemical symbol of the metal and fineness on the left and fine metal content and the mint trade mark on the right, at the bottom in the centre, in three lines, there is an inscription: ‘БАНК РОССИИ’ (BANK OF RUSSIA), the coin denomination: ‘3 РУБЛЯ’ (3 RUBLES), and the year of issue: ‘2023 г.’ (2023).

Reverse

an image of a portrait of Valentina Tereshkova in a spacesuit and a stylised image of a gull, both designed in relief, against the background of images of the Earth, the starry sky and abstract lines symbolising a space flight, laser treated for matte finishing; and the relief inscriptions ‘16–19 июня 1963 г.’ (16–19 June 1963) under the portrait, with a decorative line underneath, and ‘60-ЛЕТИЕ ПЕРВОГО ПОЛЕТА В КОСМОС ЖЕНЩИНЫ-КОСМОНАВТА’ (THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST SPACE FLIGHT OF A FEMALE COSMONAUT) on the left around the lower circumference.

Authors

Designers: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), A.A. Brynza (reverse).
Sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), A.N. Bessonov (reverse).
Mint: Saint Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
Edge: 300 corrugations.

Discover more

16 June 1963 was the day when the spacecraft Vostok-6 manned by the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (call sign – Seagull) was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The spacecraft was carried into the Earth’s orbit by the booster rocket Vostok.

In the course of the flight, Tereshkova maintained a log and made photos of the horizon that were then used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere. The spacecraft orbited the Earth 48 times, and the lander of Vostok-6 successfully descended in the Bayevsky District of the Altai Territory. The flight lasted for 2 days, 22 hours and 50 minutes. The flight distance was 1,971,000 kilometres.

Tereshkova is the only woman in the world to have flown in space with a solo mission. All other female cosmonauts and astronauts flew in space only as part of crews.

Source: https://www.roscosmos.ru