The first season of Cowboy Bebop had people hunting for Easter eggs and looking out for references to pop culture. However, there's one thing that we haven't solved just yet. At one point, Spike Spiegel and Jet Black agree that Faye Valentine looks like the Cosmonaut. But who is the Cosmonaut they kept referring to?
Faye Valentine was immediately introduced in the first episode but it isn't until Episode 4 that she begins working with Spike and Jet. In Callisto Soul, Faye happens upon a group of ecoterrorists who screw up her attempt to find the woman who took her Identikit. As she enlists the help of the duo, they keep bringing up how she resembles the Cosmonaut.
The episode ends without Faye and the audience ever learning who the Cosmonaut is but she may have been revealed in the first episode of Cowboy Bebop. As Spike walks into a casino heist, he flips a 50-woo coin and kicks it into the terrorist Tanaka. As the coin flips over, it is revealed to have the words "Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space."
It's not an outright confirmation that Spike and Jet were referring to the legendary Russian cosmonaut. However, the idea that Tereshkova appears in a common coin would mean that everyone on this side of Mars knows who she is and could easily make references to her. Since Faye has amnesia, it is understandable why the reference confuses her.
You may have also noticed the whole Valentine/Valentina thing and although it's not confirmed, it's a cool wordplay that works for the Cosmonaut reference. The fact that both women bravely went on solo missions is an awesome connection as well.
The first season of Cowboy Bebop is now streaming on Netflix.
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