Who was the first woman to perform a space walk?

Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya is a former Soviet aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova.

She became the first woman to perform a space walk on July 25, 1984. She conducted an EVA outside the Salyut 7 space station for 3 hours 35 minutes during which she cut and welded metals in space along with her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov. Of the 57 Soviet/Russian spacewalkers through 2010, she is the only female. She is the daughter of Soviet military commander Yevgeniy Savitskiy. She is married, with one child, a son born 1986.

She started training as a cosmonaut in 1980. Upon returning to Earth, Savitskaya was assigned as the commander of an all-female Soyuz crew to Salyut 7 in commemoration of the International Women's Day, a mission that was later canceled.

She was twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. The asteroid 4118 Sveta is named for her.