Raskova's Rise to Fame: Record-Breaking Flight
Marina Raskova's courage and skill helped provide a highly positive image of a Soviet woman pilot in the press; afterwards she became one of the first women to receive the prestigious Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union Award.
In 1938, Raskova was the navigator for an all-female flight crew that flew from Moscow to the East, opening up a route across Siberia and establishing a new record for longest non-stop flight for women (Noggle).
Raskova's stamina caught people’s attention. When the plane ran out of gas, she parachuted out and spent ten days wandering the Siberian peninsula with little food or water. "The aviators, Marina Raskova, Polina Osipenko, and Valentina Grizodubova, set an international women’s straight-line distance record when they flew 5,947 km" (Strebe) Her courage and skill provided a positive image of a Soviet woman in the press, especially after Raskova became one of the first women to receive the coveted Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union Award (Noggle). |