First Woman in Space - Space Exhibition at Science Museum in London

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Valentina Tereshkova travelled into space in 1963 in a craft programmed to ascend but not descend. This was compounded by the fact she had no toothbrush.

If ground control had not succeeded in sending and installing a new computer program, instead of returning to Earth - where she parachuted safely out of the craft from nearly seven kilometres up - the fragile craft in which she would orbit Earth 48 times over two days, 22 hours and 50 minutes, would have spun on and on into outer space for ever. As for the toothbrush, “I had tooth paste, and water, and my hands,” she said.

She asked that the engineer who so nearly cost her her life not be punished, and was asked in return never to reveal the truth – and never spoke of it for 30 years, she said. “Cosmonauts can keep their word like men and women - particularly women.”

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/17/first-woman-in-space-valentina-tereshkova

150 Pieces in the Exhibition, most never seen as have never left Russia, took 5 years and 200 Curators to put together, opens tomorrow until March 13.

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Seen a quick clip of the Expo on the One Show on BBC1 there at 7pm. It looks good.