How he went into outer space. The first manned spacewalk (4 photos)

About the problems that arose during the legendary flight of Alexei Leonov, in Soviet time were not distributed

The problems that arose during the legendary flight of Alexei Leonov were not discussed during Soviet times.

Released shortly before Cosmonautics Day, the film "Time of the First" Evgeny Mironov V leading role quickly became the box office leader. Indeed, the filmmakers chose a win-win theme - the dramatic and heroic story of a person’s first exit into open space. Then, in March 1965, Alexey Leonov, upon returning to Earth, reported that the flight was successful. However, more than fifty years later, we can admit: the Soviet cosmonaut had every chance of literally burning out in the race with the Americans, there were so many failures and dangers.

In the womb of the Universe

Initially, it was assumed that Alexey Leonov would go into orbit and make the first spacewalk in human history as part of the Vostok-11 mission, on the same ship on which they flew Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova and German Titov. However, preparations were delayed. The fateful launch occurred a year and a half after the planned date, March 18, 1965. He became Leonov's partner and ship commander Pavel Belyaev.

On the Voskhod ship, which replaced the Vostoki, a cylindrical airlock chamber was installed. The three insulated inflatable sections would serve their purpose even if two of them failed. The “Berkut” spacesuit weighing 20 kg and the accompanying backpack weighing 21 kg were supposed to ensure the normal functioning of the astronaut in outer space. There were two spacesuits on the ship so that the commander, if necessary, could provide assistance to someone who went into outer space. It was also assumed that if the airlock did not open automatically before returning to Earth, the astronauts in spacesuits would lean into the hatch and cut it off manually.

Alexey Leonov swam into the airlock when the ship was on its second orbit. The step overboard of the Voskhod occurred at 11 hours 34 minutes 51 seconds. It was connected to the ship by an “umbilical cord” about 5.5 meters long. In 23 minutes, the cosmonaut walked away from the hatch and returned to it five times, engaged in observations and experiments, and Belyaev monitored his partner using a television camera and telemetry equipment.

Seven sweats

Training in a pressure chamber on Earth was successful, but in orbit design flaws made themselves felt. Due to the pressure difference, the suit was greatly inflated and did not allow normal movement. The astronaut decided to contact the Mission Control Center and ask for instructions, but thought that at that moment he was the only person on Earth who had ever encountered such a problem, and he would have to solve it on his own. To return to the airlock, Alexey Leonov, with exquisite care, released the pressure to the emergency level and literally squeezed into the hatch.

Another problem was the inability to bend my legs without support and get into the edge of the hatch. Because of this, contrary to the instructions, Leonov squeezed into the airlock not with his feet, but with his head first. Inside, he had to turn around, since the internal hatch cover opened inward and “ate” a third of the volume.

BY THE WAY:During the filming of the film "The Time of the First", exact models of the spacecraft on which the historic flight was made were built. The leading actor Evgeny Mironov, who was advised by Alexey Leonov, decided to repeat his trick and turn around in a cylindrical airlock with a diameter of one meter, while wearing a spacesuit with a shoulder width of 68 cm. No matter how hard the actor tried, but, unlike his hero, he tumbled he failed.

Once in the compartment, the astronaut again violated the instructions by opening the helmet before the leak test was completed. Leonov did this because sweat was pouring into his eyes. The fact is that the designers placed a light filter on inner side helmet and it got very hot. Currently, such protective filters are installed only on the outside.

The flight ended on skis

As soon as the adrenaline in the blood burned out, new emergency situations arose. When returning to Earth, the solar orientation system did not work, and the braking propulsion system did not turn on. The landing was supposed to begin automatically on the 17th orbit, but the program failed. Leonov and Belyaev had to go to the eighteenth orbit and take Voskhod to land at manual mode. It turned out that it was impossible for the astronauts strapped into their seats to look out the window and orient themselves to the Earth. This resulted in a loss of accuracy.

During the descent, the astronauts had to experience an overload of 10 G, and this is the limit of human capabilities. The fact is that the orbital module did not separate from the landing module during descent, as intended. The capsule with Belyaev and Leonov began to spin wildly. It was possible to stabilize its movement only after the cable connecting the modules burned out.

All the troubles led to the landing taking place far from the intended location - in a dense forest almost 200 kilometers north of Perm. The astronauts spent the night in the taiga at 30 degrees below zero, warming up by the fire. When they were discovered, rescuers parachuted into the small forest a few kilometers from the crew and cleared the landing area. Leonov and Belyaev still had to ski to get to the helicopter. On March 21, they arrived in Perm and officially reported the completion of the flight.

BY THE WAY:In May 2017 twice Hero Soviet Union Alexey Leonov will turn 83 years old. He devotes a lot of time to drawing, creating portraits of his colleagues and landscapes. Recently, his unique work, a drawing created on board the Voskhod spacecraft, became the center of an exhibition at the London Science Museum, along with hundreds of artefacts dedicated to space exploration.

Leonov’s former partner, hero of the Great Patriotic War and participant in the war with Japan Pavel Belyaev, after returning to Earth, continued to prepare for new space flights. He was going to participate in the flyby of the Moon, but was removed for health reasons and became a senior instructor in the cosmonaut corps. He died in 1970 after a long illness.

The beginning of the rapid study of the Universe is considered to be April 12, 1961, when the first man went into space and he became Yuri Gagarin, a citizen of the USSR. Year after year after his flight, new discoveries were made.

Open space

Being outside a spacecraft wearing only a spacesuit is a risky proposition. Exactly 52 years ago, Soviet pilot Alexei Leonov performed a spacewalk. Despite the fact that Leonov spent only 12 minutes in airless space, it was a real feat. The astronaut calls these few minutes absolute silence; he spoke about this in his first interviews. Today year of man's spacewalk every schoolchild knows. In 1965, on March 12, the Voskhod-2 spacecraft launched on board with Alexei Leonov and the commander of the apparatus, Pavel Belyaev, since then this date has been important for the history of Russia. Leonov spacewalk committed when he was 31 years old.

How it was

The first human walk in space outside of a ship in history caused real delight throughout the world. Moreover, this happened precisely when the USSR and America were fiercely competing for the title of first in the field of mastering the space of weightlessness. Spacewalk was regarded at that time as a propaganda success for the Soviet Union and a serious blow to national pride Americans.

Leonov's spacewalk- This is a real breakthrough in the field of exploration of the Universe. In fact, there were many dangerous moments during the flight that the astronaut experienced. Almost immediately his suit inflated as a result of strong pressure. To solve the problem, the pilot had to break the instructions and reduce the pressure inside. That is why he entered the ship not feet first, but head first. Cosmonaut Leonov spacewalk, despite all the problems, made it successfully and landed successfully.

Despite the technical inspection of the vessel and its thorough preparation before the flight, problems still arose. The sudden change in temperature led to the formation of a crack in the hatch casing. Which would lead to the depressurization of the ship and the death of the astronauts. After the first was completed spacewalk year over the year, research was carried out more and more actively.

During the Soviet Union, the emergency situations that occurred were kept silent; the truth was made public relatively recently, including human spacewalk was imperfect. But today it is already possible to tell the whole truth. In particular, that Alexey Leonov spacewalk almost did it without a safety rope, and if not for the commander of the ship, who noticed this in time, Belyaev’s body to this day would have been in orbit of the planet.

How did Leonov feel?

Astronaut spacewalk- this is a real feat and a breakthrough in science. Alexey Leonov will forever remain the first person in human history to see planet Earth from a height of 500 km. At the same time, he did not feel any movement at all, although he was flying at a speed several times higher than the speed of a jet plane. It is impossible on Earth to feel the gigantic environment, surrounding a person, this is only accessible from space. When Leonov saw the Irtysh, he received a command to return to the ship’s abortion, but he was not immediately able to do this because of his bloated spacesuit. Fortunately, Alexey Leonov's spacewalk ended successfully.

Cosmonaut: Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov (05/30/1934)

• 11th cosmonaut of the USSR (15th in the world)
• Flight duration (1965): 1 day 2 hours 2 minutes, call sign: “Almaz-2”
• Flight duration (1975): 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes, call sign: Soyuz-1.

The biography of cosmonaut Leonov originates in the small village of Listvyanka, Kemerovo region, where the Soviet pilot and cosmonaut was born on May 30, 1934. Alexey is the eighth child in the Leonov family. At the age of 19 he graduated from high school in the city of Kaliningrad. For the next two years, Alexey Arkhipovich is studying at the Military Aviation School in the city of Kremenchug. In 1957, Leonov graduated from the Military Aviation School in the city of Chuguev, after which he went to serve as a fighter pilot. In 1961, in addition to serving, Alexey also entered the VVIA named after. Zhukovsky.

Space training

In March 1960, Alexey Arkhipovich became a cosmonaut student at the Cosmonaut Training Center. In the same year, space training (OKP) for the Soviet pilot began. In 1961, Alexey Leonov completed the OKP, passed the final exams with flying colors and received the qualification “Air Force cosmonaut”. At first, in 1963, Alexey Arkhipovich was preparing to fly on the Vostok-5 spacecraft as a reserve pilot, but already in 1964, Leonov was appointed to the role of 2nd pilot of the crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. As part of the program, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov was planned to go into space.

During training, he made 12 flights on a Tu-104LL series aircraft and 6 flights on an Il-14, and also conducted a simulation of an exit into open space using a model of the Voskhod ship.

First flight and spacewalk

On March 18, 1965, the Voskhod-2 spacecraft launched from the 1st site of Baikonur at 10 a.m. Moscow time. After the ship was in Earth orbit, the airlock chamber began to inflate during the first orbit around the planet. The cosmonauts put on their spacesuits and Alexei Leonov prepared to go into space. On the second orbit, the astronaut proceeded to the airlock chamber. Pavel closed the hatch to the airlock chamber and started its depressurization.

At the moment the external chamber hatch was opened, the spacecraft was flying over Egypt and had no contact with the USSR command center. Two minutes later, at 11:34:51, when the air left the chamber, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov followed him into space. Secured to the ship with a five-meter cable, Alexey Arkhipovich went into space five times and returned to the spacecraft. During spacewalk, cosmonaut Leonov experienced disturbances in the body, the symptoms of which were tachycardia, twice as fast shallow breathing, elevated temperature (+38 °C) and increased sweating. For these reasons, returning to the ship required great effort from Alexey Leonov.

The astronaut was observed from the outside by two television cameras installed on board the ship. In addition, Alexey Arkhipovich himself filmed with a special S-97 camera. The cosmonaut Belyaev watched his partner from aboard the ship, and he transmitted a message to Earth about the first man’s exit into open space.

Leonov's return to the ship

After 12 minutes and 9 seconds of free flight, the astronaut began returning to the spacecraft. Alexey Arkhipovich was supposed to enter the airlock chamber “feet first”, however, due to the heavily inflated space suit and the presence of a video camera in his hand, the cosmonaut had to enter “head first”. After 23 minutes and 41 seconds in space, Alexey Leonov returned to the airlock chamber and closed the hatch behind him. Despite the established rules, the cosmonaut opened the helmet of the spacesuit even before the airlock was filled with air to wipe his sweat-filled eyes.

In the airlock chamber, only one meter in diameter, the astronaut had to do a somersault in order to successfully return to the ship. Soon, according to the protocol, the airlock chamber was shot off. But due to temperature deformations, a gap was formed in the hatch, which led to depressurization. IN this moment the system automatically increased the amount of oxygen supplied. The outcome of the situation could have been disastrous, since the increased amount of oxygen created a threat of explosion. However, while in a state of oxygen poisoning, Alexey Leonov accidentally changed the oxygen supply. Seven hours later, the astronauts fixed the leak and the percentage of oxygen on board the ship began to decrease.

Landing "Voskhod-2"

According to the established plan, the landing of the ship should have occurred automatically after the 17th orbit around the Earth, but the system failed, and after another orbit, crew commander Pavel Belyaev decided to take control of the ship until it completely lost its course.

Since the crew seats were turned 90 degrees relative to the control panel, Belyaev needed to unfasten from the seat. After adjusting the orientation and launching the spacecraft's braking propulsion system, the astronaut returned to his seat. All of the above actions took Pavel Ivanovich 22 seconds, which is why the ship landed 75 kilometers from the planned landing site.

On March 19, the cosmonauts found themselves in the snow-covered taiga, two hundred kilometers from Perm. Four hours after landing, the crew was discovered by rescuers. However, the cosmonauts’ mission did not end there and they spent two more days in the taiga to clear a place for the helicopter to land. Not far from the place was wooden house, in which the astronauts spent the night, and from which they skied to the helicopter on the last day.

Soviet cosmonauts were two and a half months ahead of the United States, during which astronaut Edward White conducted a spacewalk.

Upon returning home, on March 23, Alexey Leonov was awarded the Gold Star medal of Hero of the USSR.

Second flight

On July 15, 1975, Alexey Arkhipovich began his second flight together with Valery Kubasov on board the Soyuz-19 spacecraft as part of the ASTP program - a joint experimental flight of Apollo (USA) and Soyuz (USSR). Two days later, the Apollo spacecraft began approaching the Soyuz spacecraft at a speed of about 0.25 m/s. The docking lasted three hours and at the end there was a handshake between the two commanders - the Soviet cosmonaut Leonov and the American Stafford. The astronauts made four transitions between the ships while they were in the docked state. Two days later, on July 19, the ships undocked, and on July 21, 1975, Alexey Leonov returned to Earth.

The next day, Alexey Arkhipovich, Major General of Aviation, was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR for the second time for outstanding services to world astronautics. In March 1976, Leonov became commander of the cosmonaut corps. In 1981, he graduated from Zhukovsky’s AAIA and became a candidate technical sciences. He was dismissed from the detachment in 1982 due to his appointment as 1st deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center for space training; he worked at the Cosmonaut Training Center until 1991.

Future life

Since 1991, the man who was the first to go into space, Alexey Leonov, has been working for leadership positions various companies, including Chetek-Cosmos, Vostok-Capital and SladCo. Since 1997 - Vice President of Alfa Bank.

In addition to being a champion in outer space, Alexey Arkhipovich is the author of four inventions and 10 scientific papers.

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov is a test pilot, cosmonaut, artist, the first earthling to go into outer space, winner of many prizes and awards.

Childhood and youth

Alexey Leonov was born on May 30, 1934 in the village of Listvyanka. His grandfather was exiled here for participating in the events of 1905, and a little later the parents of the future cosmonaut, who had previously lived in the Donbass, also moved to Siberia. Alexey's father, Arkhip Alekseevich, had to change his profession as a miner to a peasant share, and his mother, Evdokia Minaevna, worked as a teacher.

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Alexey Leonov in his youth

There were many children in the Leonov family, Alexey was the youngest, the ninth child. Family happiness and everyday life was disrupted by Stalinist repressions. In 1936, Arkhip Leonov, a respected man, the chairman of the village council, was arrested on false charges. The authorities deprived the wife and children of their property and kicked them out of the house, and the children were forbidden to go to school. Fortunately, Leonov Sr. managed to survive in the camps, and in 1939 the father of a large family was acquitted and returned home.

By that time, Evdokia Minaevna, desperate to feed her children alone, having lost her job and roof over her head, moved to Kemerovo, to live with her eldest daughter. She had a room in the barracks, where the large Leonov family lived for about a year. A year later, the father returned, and the family slowly began to get back on their feet. First, they were given two more rooms in the same barracks, and in 1948, Arkhip Alekseevich was assigned to a new place of work in Kaliningrad, where the Leonovs moved.

Read also "Let's go?": how to fly into space, and how much it costs

As fate would have it, little Alyosha went to school only at the age of 9, in Kemerovo. In elementary school, the boy became interested in drawing. Leonov graduated from high school in Kaliningrad. By the time he received his certificate in 1953, Alexey had fully mastered the design of aircraft engines, aircraft and the theory of flight. The young man gained this knowledge by reading the notes of his older brother, who had once studied to become an aviation technician.

The year 1953 was a turning point in the biography and fate of the future cosmonaut: he hesitated in choosing a profession between art and aviation. Alexey applied to the Riga Academy of Arts, but, having learned that dormitories are provided to students only from the third year of study, he left the first year.

Cosmonautics

After failure with the Academy of Arts, Leonov entered the elementary aviation school in Kremenchug, where Komsomol recruitment was just taking place. Upon completion of his studies in 1955, the young pilot continued his education at the Chuguev Higher Aviation School, where he received the specialty of a fighter pilot. After graduating from college, from 1957 to 1959, Alexey Leonov served in the tenth guards aviation division in Kremenchug, from 1959 to 1960 - in Germany, as part of the Soviet troops.

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Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov

In the fall of 1959, Alexei Arkhipovich was destined to once again change his fate dramatically. It was then that he met the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC), Colonel Karpov. At the first selection committee in Sokolniki, Leonov first met Yuri Gagarin, with whom he subsequently developed a strong friendship.

In 1960, Alexei Leonov was enrolled in a special detachment. This was followed by CPC courses and countless training sessions. In 1964, the design bureau under the leadership of Korolev began construction of a new spacecraft that would allow astronauts to go into airless space. This ship was Voskhod-2.

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The first cosmonauts of the USSR: Yuri Gagarin, German Titov, Andriyan Nikolaev, Pavel Popovich, Valery Bykovsky, Valentina Tereshkova, Konstantin Feoktistov, Vladimir Komarov, Boris Egorov, Pavel Belyaev, Alexey Leonov

Two crews were preparing for the flight. The main team included Alexey Lenov and Pavel Belyaev, their backups were cosmonauts Khrunov and Gorbatko. The historic flight and the first manned spacewalk took place on March 18, 1965.

After the flight on Voskhod 2, Leonov was part of a group of cosmonauts who were trained for the flight and landing on the Moon, but in the end the program was closed. Leonov's next entry into earth orbit took place in 1975, when the legendary docking of the Soviet Soyuz-19 spacecraft and the American Apollo was carried out.

In 1982-1991, Leonov was the first deputy head of the CPC; in 1992 he retired.

First spacewalk

The launch of the ship from Baikonur was successful and the subsequent flight proceeded as usual. It was planned that Vostok-2 should make seventeen orbits around the Earth. On the second orbit, Leonov had to enter airless space through a special airlock. That's how it all happened. Alexei's partner, ship captain Pavel Belyaev, remained on board and watched what was happening with the help of television cameras.

Monument to Alexey Leonov in Kemerovo / Nick Patrin, "Wikipedia"

Alexey Leonov 12 minutes 9 seconds. The astronaut was filmed by two static cameras, and another camera was in his hands. Along with the delight of what he saw and the significance of the accomplished feat, Alexey Arkhipovich also experienced unpleasant sensations.

It was unbearably hot in the spacesuit, sweat poured into his eyes, the astronaut began to experience tachycardia, and his temperature rose. There were also problems when returning to the ship. From being in a vacuum, Leonov’s spacesuit swelled, and it was impossible to squeeze through the opening of the airlock chamber. He had to relieve the pressure so that the volume of the suit returned to normal. Considering that his hands were full of the camera and the safety rope, it was not easy.

Finally, the astronaut got into the airlock compartment, but then another trouble awaited him. When the airlock chamber was disconnected, the ship depressurized. This problem was solved by supplying oxygen, as a result of which the crew began to experience oversaturation.

Having dealt with the malfunctions, the astronauts prepared to make an automatic landing in normal mode, but that was not the case. The ship was supposed to descend on the seventeenth orbit around the Earth, but the system failed. Pavel Belyaev had to urgently take over control. The captain did it in 22 seconds, but this time difference was enough for the crew to land 75 kilometers from the planned location. This happened 200 km from Perm, in the taiga, which made the work of search engines very difficult.

Alexey Leonov in outer space

After four hours of being in the snow, in the cold, the astronauts were discovered by rescuers. The heroes were helped to get to the nearest wooden house in the forest, then cleared a site for a helicopter landing, and only two days later the Vostok-2 crew was safely evacuated and transported to Moscow.

In 2017, the film "" was released on the screens of the country, dedicated to the exploits and everyday life of the Soviet cosmonautics, with and starring.

Personal life

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov met his future wife Svetlana in 1957. Three days after they met, they got married so as not to be separated. The Leonovs had two daughters.