Russia plans to send a woman cosmonaut into space next year on a lengthy mission for the first time, Itar-Tass news agency said this week.
Only two Russian women have so far been on space missions: Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963 while Svetlana Savitskaya took part in short flights in 1982 and 1984."A lengthy space flight, in which a woman will take part, is scheduled for next year," Boris Morukov, a doctor attending to the cosmonauts, told the agency.
Morukov did not give the names of candidates for the flight or say how long it was expected to last.
Several women volunteers are currently taking part in an experiment, expected to last for six months, to find out whether they can take the strains of a lengthy space flight.
The women will spend four months in a reclining position doing physical exercises in special spacecraft simulators.
"In the run-up to the flight we are simulating situations which could arise in a state of weightlessness," Morukov said.