Alexey Leonov Becomes The First Human To Do A Spacewalk

On 18 March 1965 Alexey Leonov became the first human to perform a extravehicular activity (or EVA) during the Voskhod 2 mission.

That first spacewalk lasted 12 minutes, taking him from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Caspian Sea.

The Voskhod 3KD spacecraft was equipped an inflatable airlock to make this feat possible.

Design of the Voskhod 2 Spacecraft

Leonov was wearing a modified space suit that provided hum with 45 minutes of oxygen.

The Soviets reported that the mission went smoothly and that "outside the ship and after returning, Leonov feels well".

The reality was a little bit different. When he entered space, his space suit ballooned, making bending difficult. He was also unable to reach his chest-mounted camera to capture the historic event. 

Luckily for us, the Volga airlock was equipped three 16 mm cameras. 

He also nearly suffered a heatstroke. Leonov said he was up to his knees in sweat, which sloshed in the suit. He also revealed that he had a suicide pill at hand in the case he was unable to reenter the spacecraft after his EVA.

 


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