Fifty years ago, Valentina Terechkova became the first woman cosmonaut and is still the only woman to have performed a solo journey into space. The European space programme has been a reality for more than fifty years and yet, despite the presence of many women in key positions, women are still under-represented in scientific careers, accounting for only 17% of engineers in France.
Nowadays, space-related technologies have never been so present in our daily lives. The spirit of space “conquest” has changed and is now a source of international cooperation.
With this in mind, Sipa Press worked with a team of female reporters to meet the girls who have their heads in the stars, female students passionate about space, and women who are today at the heart of the space adventure.
From Nairobi to Moscow, from Bangalore to Munich, from the Atacama Desert to the suburbs of Izmir, they have illustrated a women’s view of space which will culminate in a touring exhibition and a multimedia application.
The project has been made possible thanks to the commitment of founding partner European Space Agency (ESA). CNES, the NEREUS network, La Cité de l’espace, and the GSA are also participating in this co-production. Universcience co-produced the multimedia application with an ESTIM grant.