Originally, a joint mission profile was developed that would see two women launched into space on solo Vostok flights on consecutive days in March or April 1963, and it was intended that Tereshkova would launch first in Vostok 5 while Ponomaryova would follow her into orbit in Vostok 6. However, this flight plan was altered in March 1963. Vostok 5 would now carry a male cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky flying alongside a woman aboard Vostok 6, both to be launched in June 1963. The State Space Commission nominated Tereshkova to pilot Vostok 6 at their meeting on 21 May. Kamanin called her, "Gagarin in a skirt." Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was happy with the propaganda potential of her selection, since she was the daughter of a collective farm worker who died in the Winter War, and confirmed her selection. Solovyova was appointed as her first backup. Tereshkova was promoted to lieutenant before her flight and to captain mid-flight.