The Real Miss Universe Contest: First Female Astronauts in Space From All Over the World

On 16 June 1963, another Soviet cosmonaut made history. It was Valentina Tereshkova - the first female to fly into space.

Tereshkova's intrepid deed sparked a trend which has been copied by other countries - namely the US, Japan, China, France, Italy and South Korea - who have all sent at least one woman into space since then.

Sputnik invites you to wander through our latest photo gallery and have a look at some real trail-blazers - the world's first female astronauts.

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Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina addresses a press conference on the ground-base simulation of a SIRIUS-17 Moon mission.

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Soviet cosmonaut, the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova at the airfield of the Yaroslavl aero club.

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Iranian-American spaceflight participant Anousheh Ansari participates in the traditional flag-raising ceremony at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan on 5 Sept 2006.

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STS-65 payload specialist Chiaki Mukai is photographed on the Columbia's middeck wearing her orange launch and entry suit (LES) after launching into orbit.

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Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti during a training at a Soyuz TMA-M simulator at the Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Centre.

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Seen on the flight deck of the space shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, became the first American woman in space on 18 June 1983.

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First British astronaut Helen Sharman undergoes medical checks.

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Backup spaceflight participant Yi So-yeon listens to a news reporter's question for male spaceflight participant Ko San (out of frame) of South Korea during an Expedition 17 press briefing on 15 January 2008 at the Johnson Space Centre.

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France's Claudie André-Deshays, member of the first crew of the Franco-Russian mission Mir-Cassiopée, poses on 26 February1996 inside the Mir space station simulator in the "City of Stars" in Moscow.

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In this file photo taken Friday, 15 June 2012, Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, waves as she leaves an event to meet the press at the Jiuquan satellite launch center near Jiuquan in the land-locked province of Gansu in western China.