About Marina Popovich
Marina Lavrentyevna Zhikhoreva (Russian: Марина Лаврентьевна Жихорева; formerly Popovich [Попович]; née Vasilyeva [Васильева]; 30 July 1931 – 30 November 2017) was a Soviet Air Forces colonel, engineer, and decorated Soviet test pilot. In 1964, she became the third woman and the first Soviet woman to break the sound barrier. Known as "Madame MiG", for her work in the Soviet fighter, she set more than one hundred aviation world records on over 40 types of aircraft over her career. == Biography == Marina Vasilyeva was born on 30 July 1931 in the Velizhsky District of Smolensk Oblast, but evacuated with her family to Novosibirsk during World War II. She began learning to fly as a child but, following the war, the Soviet Union barred women from serving as military pilots. At the age of 16, presenting herself as 22 years old, she wrote to Soviet Marshal Kliment Voroshilov asking to be admitted to a flying school. Voroshilov intervened on her behalf and she was admitted to the Novosibirsk Aviation Technicum where she graduated in 1951. Initially, she worked as an engineer, then later as a flying instructor. In 1962, she entered into the first group of women that would train to become cosmonauts in the Soviet space program. After two months of training, she was turned away from the program. Her husband, Pavel Popovich, was admitted to the program, becoming the eighth person in space aboard Vostok 4 in 1962.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.