First woman in space offers to take one-way trip to Mars

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space when she made a solo space flight in 1963 at the age of 26.

Now, at the age of 76, she has said that she still dreams of flying to Mars - and would gladly make the trip, even if she could never return to Earth.

The Daily Mail reports that Ms Tereshkova has been part of a group who had studied the possibility of travelling to Mars 50 years ago.

Speaking at a news conference, she said: "We know the human limits. And for us this remains a dream. Most likely the first flight will be one way. But I am ready."

NASA has no plans to send astronauts to Mars for around 20 years; there are hopes that a crew will be sent to orbit the planet by the mid-2030s. However, the private company Inspiration Mars hopes to send two people on a fly-by trip of Marsh in 2018, on a 501-day round trip.

News.com reports that Russia will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ms Tereshkova's flight on June 16th. During her historic three-day mission, she orbited earth 48 times and set a new record by completing the most orbits in the shortest recorded period of time.

Click on the image below to see Commander Chris Hadfield's stunning views from Space...

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