Alexey Leonov forever entered the history of exploration of near-Earth space - the Soviet cosmonaut became the first to travel into outer space. It was initially planned that Leonov would be sent into orbit as part of the Vostok-11 mission, but the fateful launch was postponed for 18 months, and as a result, Alexey flew on March 18, 1965 on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft together with his partner Pavel Belyaev .
Voskhod-2
When the cosmonauts reached orbit, preparations began: Leonov put on a specially designed spacesuit with a supply of oxygen for 45 minutes, and Belyaev began installing a flexible airlock through which Alexey would go into space.
After all the necessary precautions were taken, Leonov left the ship and spent a total of 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside of it. When it was time to return, an unexpected problem arose - the astronaut's spacesuit, under vacuum conditions, became greatly inflated and did not fit into the airlock chamber.
At first, Leonov wanted to report an emergency situation to Earth, but he realized that they would not help him with advice, because he was the only person who had ever encountered something similar. The first prisoner of outer space in history quickly found a way out of the situation: in order to get inside the ship, it was necessary to reduce the size of the spacesuit, and this could only be done by bleeding off excess oxygen.
Leonov decided to take this step, realizing that every additional minute spent in thought could be his last. He began to release oxygen from the suit, squeezing into the airlock centimeter by centimeter. The cosmonaut prefers not to tell what he had to endure in those few minutes, but the impressions were probably not pleasant.
When the episode with the stuck Leonov was safely resolved, it turned out that the orientation system had failed - the cosmonauts had to land, controlling the device manually, and after the capsule with Belyaev and Leonov entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it began to rotate quickly due to the fact that the orbital module did not separate from the landing plane, as calculations suggested.
On this “carousel,” the astronauts experienced overloads of up to 10G, but when the cable that prevented the landing and orbital modules from disconnecting burned out, the capsule was stabilized. Because of all these troubles, the landing did not take place at all where expected - the astronauts found themselves in a dense forest about 180 km north of Perm.
Belyaev and Leonov spent two nights in the taiga, the temperature sometimes dropped to -30 °C, and the landing module became unusable, so the cosmonauts could not use it to warm up. When they were discovered, the rescuers first built a huge fire to warm up the heroes, and later the whole company skied another 9 km to get to the helicopter.
The feat of Pavel Belyaev and Alexey Leonov is a convincing example of what strong-willed and courageous people are capable of even in outer space or under 10G overloads. For the successful implementation of the flight, its participants were awarded the high titles of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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March 19th, 2017 admin
March 18, 1965
Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first in human history to perform a spacewalk.
Soviet cosmonauts carried out their first spacewalk two and a half months earlier than the Americans. Everyone knows this. But very few people know that during the flight of the Voskhod-2 ship, on board of which were Pavel Belyaev (commander) and Alexey Leonov (co-pilot), there were several serious emergency situations. And three or four of them are deadly. For the first time, the whole truth about the flight of "Almazov" - that was the call sign of the crew - was told in the unique book "World Manned Cosmonautics (History. Technology. People)", which was published by the RTSoft publishing house.
March 9, 1965
The expedition of the Cosmonaut Training Center together with its crews flew to the test site. On the same day, a meeting of the Air Force and the technical management of the launch was held at the second site, at which the composition of the crews was again discussed. N.P. Kamanin spoke about the results of the training and ranked the cosmonauts in order of readiness: Leonov, Khrunov, Belyaev, Zaikin. The candidacy of Pavel Belyaev was highly doubtful, since a month ago, during training in a pressure chamber, he began to choke, but quickly discovered a malfunction of the equipment and fixed it. However, the experiment was disrupted. Despite this, Kamanin recommended not to change the main crew, since cosmonauts Leonov and Belyaev
We prepared together for a long time and worked well together. He proposed approving Khrunov as an understudy for both commander and co-pilot, justifying this by the fact that he was much better prepared for both positions than Zaikin. As a result of the discussion, it was decided not to change the crews. Nevertheless, the next day they made a decision: on launch day, only three cosmonauts would be dressed in spacesuits.
11th of March the first crew spent time in the ship. The second crew was not allowed to work in the flying ship - there was no time left.
March 12 The launch of the Luna station for landing on the Moon took place, and it was unsuccessful. The 4th stage of the rocket did not fire, and the spacecraft remained in Earth orbit under the name “Cosmos-60”.
March 13
passed the last control exercises with the crew. When they're over Sergei Pavlovich Korolev
said: " Well, friends, this is probably the last time I’ll be with you at the launch. “Vostok” and “Voskhody” cost me too much...” These words turned out to be prophetic. The manned launch of Voskhod-2 turned out to be S.P. Korolev’s last. Ten months later he was gone. 
March 16, 1965 The State Commission decided to remove the rocket and space complex "Voskhod" for launch on March 17 and launch on March 18. In the evening of the same day, the State Commission approved the crews: main - commander Lieutenant Colonel P.I. Belyaev with Major A.A. Leonov going into space; reserve - commander Major D. A. Zaikin and outgoing Major E. V. Khrunov.
spaceship was launched
ZKD No. 4, which received title "Voskhod-2", with cosmonauts Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov
on board. The mass of the ship was 5,682 kg - 362 kg more than the mass of Voskhod. 1 hour 35 minutes after launch (at the beginning of the 2nd orbit) Alexey Leonov was the first in the world to leave a spaceship,
Pavel Belyaev announced to the whole world: "Attention! Man has entered outer space! Man has entered outer space! The television image of Alexei Leonov soaring against the background of the Earth was broadcast on all television channels. 
Alexey Leonov was in outer space for 23 minutes. 41 seconds, and outside the airlock in outer space - 12 minutes. 09 sec. At this time he moved away from the ship at a distance of up to 5.35 meters. During the exit, his suit was connected to the side of the ship with a special electrical cable, since it was not completely autonomous.
During the flight, the cosmonauts talked with party and government leaders gathered in the Sverdlovsk Hall of the Kremlin. A day later, on the 18th orbit, the ship landed in the Perm region, and TASS announced the complete success of the flight. Soviet cosmonauts carried out their first spacewalk 2.5 months earlier than the Americans. 
In fact, I was in flight a number of serious emergency situations threatening the lives of astronauts. Here's how about it Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov told : “There were seven serious emergency situations during my flight on Voskhod 2, three or four of which were fatal...
When they created a spacewalk vehicle, they had to solve many problems, one of which was related to the size of the hatch. In order for the lid to open completely inward, the cradle would have to be cut. Then I wouldn’t fit into it at the shoulders. And I agreed to reduce the diameter of the hatch. Thus, between the suit and the hatch edge there was a gap of 20 mm on each shoulder.
On Earth, we carried out tests in a pressure chamber at a vacuum corresponding to an altitude of 60 km... In reality, when I went into outer space, it turned out a little differently. The pressure in the suit is about 600 mm, and outside it is 10-9; it was impossible to simulate such conditions on Earth. In the vacuum of space, the suit swelled; neither the stiffening ribs nor the dense fabric could withstand it. Of course, I assumed that this would happen, but I didn’t think it would be so strong. I tightened all the straps, but the suit bulged so much that my hands came out of my gloves when I grabbed the handrails, and my feet came out of my boots. In this state, of course, I could not squeeze into the airlock hatch. A critical situation arose, and there was no time to consult with the Earth. While I would report to them... while they were conferring... And who would take responsibility? Only Pasha Belyaev saw this, but could not help. And here I am, violating all instructions and not informing Earth, I switch to a pressure of 0.27 atmospheres. This is the second operating mode of the spacesuit. If by this time the nitrogen had not been washed out of my blood, then the nitrogen would have boiled - and that’s all... death. I figured that I had been under pure oxygen for an hour and there shouldn’t be any boiling. After I switched to the second mode, everything fell into place. Out of nerves, he put a movie camera into the airlock and, violating the instructions, I went into the airlock not with my feet, but with my head first. Taking hold of the railing, I pushed myself forward. Then I closed the outer hatch and began to turn around, since you still need to enter the ship with your feet. I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise, because the lid, which opened inward, ate up 30% of the cabin’s volume. So I had to turn around (internal the diameter of the airlock is 1 meter, the width of the spacesuit at the shoulders is 68 cm). This is where the biggest load was for me pulse reached 190. I still managed to turn over and enter the ship with my feet, as expected, but I had such a heatstroke that, breaking the instructions and without checking the tightness, I opened the helmet without closing the hatch behind me. I wipe my eyes with a glove, but I can’t wipe it, as if someone is pouring on my head. Then I had only 60 liters of oxygen for breathing and ventilation, but now Orlan has 360 liters... 
I was the first in history to go out and immediately move 5 meters away. Nobody else did this. But we had to work with this halyard, put it on hooks so that it wouldn’t dangle. There was enormous physical activity. The only thing I didn’t do on the way out was to take a photo of the ship from the side. I had a miniature Ajax camera that could shoot through a button. It was given to us with the personal permission of the KGB chairman. This camera was controlled remotely by a cable; due to the deformation of the spacesuit, I could not reach it. But I did filming (3 minutes with an S-97 camera), and I was constantly monitored from the ship by two television cameras, but they had low resolution. A very interesting film was later made from these materials.
But the worst thing was when I returned to the ship - the partial pressure of oxygen began to increase (in the cabin), which reached 460 mm and continued to rise. This is at the norm of 160 mm! But 460 mm is an explosive gas, because Bondarenko burned out on this... At first we sat in stupor. Everyone understood, but they could do almost nothing: they completely removed the humidity, lowered the temperature (it became 10-12). And the pressure is growing... The slightest spark - and everything would turn into a molecular state, and we understood this. We were in this state for seven hours, and then we fell asleep... apparently from stress. Then we figured out that I had touched the boost switch with the spacesuit hose... What actually happened? Since the ship was stabilized relative to the Sun for a long time, deformation naturally occurred; after all, on the one hand, cooling to -140 C, on the other, heating to +150 C... The hatch closing sensors worked, but a gap remained. The regeneration system began to build up pressure, and oxygen began to increase, we did not have time to consume it... The total pressure reached 920 mm. These several tons of pressure pressed down the hatch and the pressure growth stopped. Then the pressure began to drop before our eyes.” 
The troubles of Belyaev and Leonov did not end there. When returning, the automatic solar orientation system did not work - and the TDU did not turn on in time. The ship went on to the next round. The crew was given the command to land Voskhod-2 manually on the 18th or 22nd orbit, and the space the ship went out of radio visibility. Through the ship "Ilyichevsk" and air defense systems it became known that the ship left orbit and went down, but where? There was no information about this for four hours.
Alexey Leonov says: “We were flying over Moscow, inclination 65. We had to land on this particular orbit, and We ourselves chose the landing area - 150 km from Solikamsk with a heading angle of 270, because there was taiga there. No businesses, no power lines. They could land in Kharkov, Kazan, or Moscow, but it was dangerous. The theory that we got there due to a balance imbalance is complete nonsense. We ourselves chose the landing site, since it was safer and possible deviations in engine operation also shifted the landing point to safe areas. Only it was forbidden to land in China - then relations were very tense. As a result at a speed of 28,000 km/h, we landed only 80 km from our calculated point. This is a good result. There were no reserve landing sites then. AND they didn't expect us there...»
Finally, the helicopter discovered parachutes and astronauts 30 km southwest of the city of Berezniki, Perm region, in the remote taiga of the Northern Urals with a flight of the calculated point for the 18th orbit by 368 km.
« When we landed- recalls A. Leonov, - They didn’t find us right away... We sat in spacesuits for two days, we had no other clothes. On the third day they pulled us out of there. Because of the sweat, there was about 6 liters of moisture in my spacesuit, up to my knees. So it was gurgling in my legs. Then, already at night, I say to Pasha: “That’s it, I’m cold.” We took off our spacesuits, stripped naked, wrung out our underwear, and put them on again. Then the screen-vacuum thermal insulation was removed. They threw away the entire hard part and put the rest on themselves. These are nine layers of aluminized foil coated with dederon on top. They wrapped themselves on top with parachute lines, like two sausages. And so we stayed there for the night. And at 12 noon a helicopter arrived and landed 9 km away. Another helicopter in a basket lowered Yura Lygin straight to us. Then Slava Volkov (Vladislav Volkov, future TsKBEM cosmonaut) and others came to us on skis. They brought us warm clothes, They poured us some cognac, and we gave them our alcohol - and life became more fun. The fire was lit and the boiler was installed. We washed ourselves. In about two hours they built a small hut for us, where we spent the night normally. There was even a bed there.”
21 March a landing site for helicopters was cut down, and Pavel Belyaev and Alexey Leonov and their accompanying people skied to the Mi-4 helicopter. Soon they were in Perm, from where they reported the completion of the flight to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. The evacuation of the cosmonauts was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Belyaev, the namesake of the crew commander. On the same day, the cosmonauts returned to Leninsk. 
After Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev had a rest,On March 23, Moscow welcomed the cosmonauts. From the mausoleum, Alexey Leonov uttered very vivid words: “I want to tell you that the picture of the cosmic abyss that I saw, with its grandeur, immensity, brightness of colors and sharp contrasts of pure darkness with the dazzling radiance of the stars, simply amazed and enchanted me. To complete the picture, imagine - against this background I see our Soviet ship, illuminated by the bright light of the sun's rays. When I left the airlock, I felt a powerful flow of light and heat, reminiscent of electric welding. Above me was a black sky and bright, unblinking stars. The sun seemed to me like a red-hot fiery disk..."
Based on materials from: http://dayofru.com
The term “extra-vehicular activity” (EVA) is broader and also includes the concept of exiting a spacecraft onto the surface of the Moon, planet or other space object.
Historically, due to the difference in the design features of the first spacecraft, Americans and Russians define the moment of the start of spacewalk differently. From the very beginning, Soviet spaceships had a separate airlock compartment, which is why the start of spacewalking is considered the moment when the cosmonaut depressurizes the airlock and finds himself in a vacuum, and its end is the moment the hatch is closed. Early American ships did not have an airlock, and when performing a spacewalk, the entire ship was depressurized. Under these conditions, the start of spacewalk was taken to be the moment when the astronaut’s head protruded beyond the spacecraft, even if his body was still inside the compartment (the so-called eng. Stand-up extra-vehicular activity, SEVA). The modern American criterion takes the switching of the spacesuit to autonomous power supply as the beginning and the beginning of pressurization as the end of the spacewalk.
Spacewalks can be performed in different ways. In the first case, the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft with a special safety cord, sometimes combined with an oxygen supply hose (in this case it is called an “umbilical cord”), and simply the muscular efforts of the astronaut are sufficient to return to the ship. Another option is completely autonomous flight in outer space. In this case, it is necessary to ensure the possibility of returning to the spacecraft using a special technical system (See Installation for moving and maneuvering an astronaut).
Encyclopedic YouTube
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✪ An astronaut talks about going into outer space
✪ Work of an astronaut in outer space
✪ Spacewalk by Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko
Subtitles
Historical facts
- The longest spacewalk was that of American Susan Helms on March 11, which lasted 8 hours and 56 minutes.
- The record for the number of exits (16) and the total duration of stay (82 hours 22 minutes) in outer space belongs to the Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov.
- The first spacewalk in interplanetary space was performed by American astronaut Alfred Worden, a crew member of the Apollo 15 lunar expedition. Warden went into outer space to transfer film footage from mapping and panoramic cameras from the service module to the command module.
Dangers of spacewalks
Potential danger comes from the possibility of loss or unacceptable removal from the spacecraft, threatening death due to the exhaustion of the respiratory gas supply. Also dangerous are possible damages or punctures of spacesuits, the depressurization of which threatens anoxia and rapid death if the astronauts do not manage to return to the ship in time. A spacesuit damage incident occurred only once, when during the Atlantis flight STS-37, a small rod pierced the glove of one of the astronauts. By a lucky coincidence, depressurization did not occur, since the rod got stuck and blocked the resulting hole. The puncture was not even noticed until the astronauts returned to the ship and began checking their spacesuits.
It is significant that the very first rather dangerous incident occurred during the first cosmonaut’s spacewalk. Having completed the first exit program, Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov experienced difficulties returning to the ship, since the bloated space suit did not fit through the Voskhod airlock. Only releasing the oxygen pressure in the spacesuit allowed the flight to be completed safely.
Another potentially dangerous incident occurred during the second spacewalk of astronauts on the Discovery spacecraft (flight STS-121). A special winch was detached from Pierce Sellers' spacesuit, which helps return to the station and prevents the astronaut from flying into outer space. Having noticed the problem in time, Sellers and his partner were able to attach the device back, and the exit was completed safely.
Although there are currently no known accidents associated with spacewalks, space technology developers are trying to reduce the need for extravehicular activities. Eliminating such a need, for example, when performing assembly work in space, can be helped by the development of special remote-controlled
In March 1965, the Voskhod-2 spacecraft flew. The crew, consisting of cosmonauts P. I. Belyaev and A. A. Leonov, faced a difficult but very responsible task - to carry out the first human spacewalk in history.
The actual implementation of the experiment fell to his share and on March 18 he successfully completed it. The astronaut went into outer space, moved 5 meters away from the ship and spent a total of 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside of it.
The Voskhod flight was not without emergency situations and curious incidents. It is difficult to describe how much mental and physical strength the people who prepared this grandiose experiment - a human spacewalk - had to expend. Interesting facts and little-known details of the flight and its preparation became the basis of this article.
Idea
The idea that a man could go into outer space was possible came to Korolev back in 1963. The designer suggested that such experience would soon be not only desirable, but also absolutely necessary. He turned out to be right. In the following decades, astronautics developed rapidly. For example, maintaining the normal operation of the ISS would have been generally impossible without external installation and repair work, which once again proves how necessary the first manned spacewalk was. The year 1964 marked the beginning of official preparations for this experiment.
But then, in 1964, in order to implement such a daring project, it was necessary to seriously think through the design of the ship. As a result, the well-proven Voskhod-1 was taken as a basis. One of its windows was replaced with an exit lock, and the number of crew was reduced from three to two. The airlock itself was inflatable and located outside the ship. After the experiment was completed, before landing, it had to separate itself from the body. This is how the Voskhod-2 spacecraft appeared.
There was another, more serious problem. Such a dangerous experiment had to be tested on animals first. However, they abandoned this, considering that developing a special spacesuit for an animal was too troublesome and expensive. Moreover, he would not have given an answer to the most important question: how will a person behave in outer space? It was decided to conduct experiments directly on people.
Today, astronauts are able to leave the ship for several hours and carry out very complex manipulations in outer space. But in the 60s it seemed like complete fantasy or even suicide.
Crew
Initially, the group of cosmonauts preparing for the flight consisted of Leonov, Gorbatko and Khrunov. Belyaev was on the verge of being expelled from the cosmonaut corps for health reasons, and only at the insistence of Gagarin was he included in the flight preparation group.
As a result, two crews were formed: the main one - Belyaev, Leonov - and the backup one - Gorbatko, Khrunov. Special requirements were placed on the crews of this expedition. The team had to work as one, and the astronauts had to be psychologically compatible with each other.
The test results showed that Belyaev has great restraint and composure, and is capable of not losing his head in any situation, while Leonov, on the contrary, is impetuous, impulsive, but at the same time unusually brave and daring. These two people, so different in character, could work perfectly together, which was a necessary condition in order to carry out the first manned spacewalk.
Workout
For the first three months, the cosmonauts studied the design and devices of the new spacecraft, followed by long training in zero-gravity conditions. This required a maneuverable aircraft and a very experienced pilot who could confidently perform a one-hour flight and the aircraft was capable of simulating weightlessness for a total of about 2 minutes. It was during this time that the astronauts had to have time to work out the entire planned program.
Initially, they flew on MIG sparks, but the astronauts tied with belts were unable to move. It was decided to take the more spacious Tu-104LL. A mock-up of a part of the spacecraft with an airlock chamber was installed inside the plane, and the main training took place on this improvised simulator.
Uncomfortable spacesuits
Today in the Museum of Cosmonautics you can see the same spacesuit in which Leonov carried out a human spacewalk. A photo of a smiling cosmonaut in a helmet with the inscription “USSR” spread across all the newspapers of the world, but no one could imagine how much effort this smile cost.
Special spacesuits were developed especially for Voskhod-2, which bore the formidable name “Berkut”. They had an additional hermetic shell, and a backpack was placed behind the astronaut’s back. For better light reflection, they even changed the color of the spacesuits: instead of the traditional orange, they used white. The total weight of the Berkut was about 100 kg.
All training took place in spacesuits, the support system of which left much to be desired. The air supply was extremely weak, which means that with the slightest movement the astronaut immediately became covered in sweat from exertion.
In addition, the spacesuits were very uncomfortable. They were so dense that in order to clench your hand into a fist, an effort of almost 25 kilograms was required. To be able to perform any movement in such clothes, he had to be constantly trained. The work was wearing thin, but the cosmonauts stubbornly pursued their cherished goal - to make it possible for a person to go into outer space. Leonov, by the way, was considered the strongest and most resilient in the group, which largely predetermined his main role in the experiment.
Demonstration performance
In the midst of training, a great friend of the USSR, Charles de Gaulle, flew to Moscow, and Khrushchev decided to brag to him about the successes of Soviet cosmonautics. He decided to show the Frenchman how astronauts practice human spacewalks. It immediately became clear that the crew that would take part in this “performance” would be sent on the real flight. By order of Gagarin, at this crucial moment, Khrunov is replaced by Belyaev. According to Khrunov’s recollections, he did not understand the motives for this replacement and for a long time retained a grudge against Gagarin for this inexplicable act.
Later, Gagarin explained his position to Khrunov; he believed that it was necessary to give Belyaev one last chance to fly into space. Young Khrunov could subsequently do this more than once, and besides, Belyaev was better suited to Leonov from a psychological point of view.
Trouble before the start
The day before the start, a big problem happened. Due to the negligence of a security soldier, the inflatable airlock, which was hung out of the ship to check the tightness, unexpectedly fell and ruptured. There was no spare, and therefore it was decided to use the same one on which the cosmonauts had been training for a long time. This incident could have been fatal, but, fortunately, everything worked out, the repeatedly used airlock survived, and the first manned spacewalk was successfully completed.
Spacewalk
Regarding human behavior in outer space, there were ill-wishers who argued that an astronaut who stepped outside the spacecraft would immediately be welded to it, would be unable to move, or would be unable to move at all. It is very difficult to imagine what else a human spacewalk could turn out to be. 1965 could easily have been a year of great failure. However, only practice could confirm or refute these pessimistic theories.
In addition, at that time no rescue systems had yet been developed. The only thing that was done for the astronauts was permission, if something happened, to simply open the hatch and put their hand out of it.
When the ship entered the specified orbit, Leonov began to prepare for departure. Everything was going according to plan, when hour X came, the astronaut gently pushed off and floated out of the airlock into outer space.
The most dire predictions of the skeptics did not come true, and the astronaut felt quite well. He completed the entire prescribed program, and it was time to return to the ship. There were some problems with this. The space suit, swollen in zero gravity, did not allow Leonov to enter the airlock. Then he, without consulting anyone, independently lowered the pressure in the suit and rushed into the airlock head first, and not vice versa, as planned. The first manned spacewalk was completed, and Alexey Leonov forever inscribed his name in the history of astronautics.
Emergency on the descent
Voskhod-2 had many flaws, and after the successful completion of the flight program, an emergency occurred. When the exit gate was shot, the solar-stellar orientation sensors became stuck. When the ship was making its 16th orbit around the Earth, an order was received from the Mission Control Center to descend. But the ship continued to fly as if nothing had happened. When he went on the 17th orbit, it became clear that the automatic orientation system did not work, and the crew had to switch to manual control. The flight, the main task of which was to get a man into outer space, could end in disaster.
At the cost of incredible efforts, Belyaev and Leonov regained control of the ship, but were still almost a minute late in turning off the engines. As a result, the planned landing site was left far behind and the descent vehicle landed in the dense Permian forests.
Rescue operation
The astronauts remained in the winter forest for two long days. True, one helicopter tried to drop them warm clothes, but missed, and the package was lost in the snowdrifts.
The helicopter could not land in deep snow among the trees, and the astronauts did not have the necessary equipment either to cut down the trees or to douse the snow with water and make an impromptu ice landing pad. Ultimately, the rescue team reached the frozen astronauts on foot and was able to take them out of the forest.
Despite all the difficulties of preparation and unpleasant incidents during the flight, Belyaev and Leonov coped with their main task - they carried out a human spacewalk. The date of this event became one of the most significant milestones in the history of Soviet cosmonautics.
On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov made the first spacewalk in history.
This mission was a major milestone in the development of astronautics. The whole country was watching her!
Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov was aboard the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, which launched at 10:00 Moscow time. The commander of the ship was Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev. The ship was equipped with an inflatable airlock "Volga". Before launch it was folded, and in space it was inflated.
The spacewalk began on the second orbit. A. Leonov moved into the airlock chamber and P. Belyaev closed the hatch behind him. Then the air was bled from the chamber. At 11:34:51 Alexey Leonov left the airlock and found himself in outer space.
The first thing he saw was the black sky. The astronaut's pulse was 164 beats per minute, the moment of exit was very tense.
P. Belyaev transmitted to Earth:
Attention! Man has entered outer space!
The television image of Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov soaring against the background of the Earth was broadcast on all television channels.
The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union reported:
- Today, March 18, 1965, at 11:30 am Moscow time, during the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, a man entered outer space for the first time. On the second orbit of the flight, the co-pilot, pilot-cosmonaut Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, in a special space suit with an autonomous life support system, entered outer space, moved away from the ship at a distance of up to five meters, successfully carried out a set of planned studies and observations and returned safely to the ship. With the help of an on-board television system, the process of Comrade Leonov's exit into outer space, his work outside the ship and his return to the ship were transmitted to Earth and observed by a network of ground stations. Comrade Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov’s health while he was outside the ship and after returning to the ship was good. The ship's commander, Comrade Belyaev Pavel Ivanovich, is also feeling well.
Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov spent 12 minutes 9 seconds outside the ship. In total, the first exit took 23 minutes 41 seconds. The Berkut space suit was developed specifically for the exit. It provided a stay in outer space for 30 minutes.
Due to the pressure difference in space, the suit swelled greatly and lost its flexibility. This made it very difficult for the astronaut to enter the hatch to return to Voskhod 2. Several unsuccessful attempts were made, but in the end everything worked out. Later there were several more emergency situations. However, despite them, the flight ended safely.
A. Leonov describes his impressions of what he saw in exactly this way:
I want to tell you that the picture of the cosmic abyss that I saw, with its grandeur, immensity, brightness of colors and sharp contrasts of pure darkness with the dazzling radiance of the stars, simply amazed and enchanted me. To complete the picture, imagine - against this background I see our Soviet ship, illuminated by the bright light of the sun's rays. When I left the airlock, I felt a powerful flow of light and heat, reminiscent of electric welding. Above me was a black sky and bright, unblinking stars. The sun seemed to me like a hot fiery disk...
Man's first entry into outer space marked a new stage in the development of astronautics and science in general!