Irina Solovyova

Irina Bayanovna Solovyova (Ирина Баяновна Соловьева) (born September 6, 1937) was one of the five women chosen in the female group, now a retired Soviet cosmonaut. She never flew into space, but was chosen as the backup to Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space via Vostok 6 in June, 1963. Solovyova was also chosen to fly on Voskhod 5, in which she would have become the first woman to walk in space (that honor went to Svetlana Savitskaya in 1984), but the Voskhod program was canceled after Voskhod 2 in favor of the Soyuz program.

Before being recruited as a cosmonaut, Solovyova was a world champion member of the Soviet national parachutists.

She was awarded the Belarussian Order For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces, 3rd class.