Women on Postcards | S Is for Seagull

The Seagull
 Portrait of Valentina Tereshkova, 1964.
By Soviet Amir Nuriakhmetovich Mazitov (1928-1992)

Валентина Терешкова ('Valentina Tereshkova', born 1937) is a Russian engineer, politician, and former Soviet cosmonaut. 

Having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963, Tereshkova became the first woman in space; she remains the only woman to have flown into space solo, and, at 26 years of age, the youngest. Her call sign on this flight was Чайка, (Chaika, 'Seagull'). After her launch, she radioed down:

It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it's a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is ... everything is going well.

Eduard (Russia) sent the postcard with two matching stamps: a Russian stamp issued in 2013 that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first woman in space (It includes a seagull!). And a Soviet one issued 30 years before with the same motive: 20th anniversary of Tereshkova's Vostok 6 flight.

This postcard was sent on 25th December 2025, and arrived just this week. It took less time to reach the Moon!