Among the first Soviet cosmonauts who were enrolled in the USSR Cosmonaut Corps in 1960 was a young officer-pilot Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. Among his many merits, the most important one stands out - the first exit of a person into outer space.

The Voskhod 2 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 18, 1965. There were two crew members on board. The crew commander was Pavel Belyaev, the co-pilot was Alexei Leonov. The flight program included an unprecedented task at that time - the first spacewalk by an astronaut. To carry out this important task, after lengthy training on the simulators of Star City, co-pilot Alexei Leonov was appointed.

The first spacewalk in the history of astronautics lasted 729 seconds. During this time, an emergency situation arose with the spacesuit. During the return aboard the ship, Alexei Leonov's spacesuit swelled and prevented him from squeezing through the narrow airlock. Leonov, being a courageous man, did not lose his head. He bled excess air from the suit, thereby lowering the pressure and reducing its volume. In violation of the instructions, he was forced to return to the airlock not with his feet, but with his head forward.

This emergency was not the last. After the failure of the ship's automatic orientation system and the manual activation of the braking system, the descent vehicle with two cosmonauts on board landed at a distance of 180 kilometers from given point. The cosmonauts waited for two nights to be evacuated while rescuers prepared a platform for helicopters, cutting down centuries-old trees in the taiga near Perm.

Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was being trained to participate in the Soviet program of flight and landing on the Moon, where he was supposed to land on its surface. The lunar program in the USSR was closed due to major malfunctions and the loss of relevance of the lunar program.

10 years after the first flight, Alesei Leonov made his second space flight as commander of the Soyuz 19 spacecraft in 1975. It was a flight under the ASTP, or Soyuz-Apollo, joint program with the Americans. He led the first ever docking of Soviet and American spacecraft in the history of astronautics. The flight lasted almost six days.

The merits of Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, cosmonaut No. 11, are marked with two stars of the Hero Soviet Union and numerous orders and medals. In 1981 he was awarded the State Prize of the USSR.

Leads an active political life, is a member of the supreme council of the United Russia party. Known as an artist. In 1992, he retired with the rank of Major General of Aviation. He owns more than ten scientific papers and four inventions.

50 years ago, Alexei Leonov was the first in history to go into the airless space.

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Half a century ago, on March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first human spacewalk in history.

The experiment was planned as part of the expedition of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, which launched on the same Thursday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR. The crew of the ship was commander Pavel Belyaev and pilot Alexei Leonov. On the occasion of the anniversary, "360 Podmoskovye" prepared five interesting facts about this momentous event.

Too much radiation

Even during the exit spaceship(QC) into orbit began to have problems. The fact is that Voskhod-2, due to a technical error, moved away from the Earth by 495 kilometers instead of 350 kilometers, as planned. At the same time, the radiation layer, which is detrimental to humans, is located at a distance of 500 kilometers from the Planet.

The dose of radiation received by the cosmonauts was 70 billion rad, which is almost two times higher than during the Voskhod-1 expedition. If at that moment high-intensity solar wind streams passed near the Earth, the astronauts could die.

The main thing is that the suit sits

To enter the airless space, OKB-1 employees developed the Berkut spacesuit, which, unlike modern extravehicular suits, did not allow regenerating the air exhaled by the astronaut. In the "Berkut", designed for a 30-minute stay in outer space, Alexei Leonov five times moved away from the spacecraft "Voskhod-2" at a distance of up to 5.35 meters.

However, when the astronaut wanted to return to the airlock, he realized that due to the pressure difference, the spacesuit was inflated. Leonov had to, risking his life, reduce the pressure inside the Berkut and, violating safety rules, get into the airlock head first. As a result, the astronaut still managed to return to the spacecraft.

CCTV

Leonov spent 23 minutes and 41 seconds in vacuum. The historical event was observed by video cameras installed on the outer surface of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. The image from them was transmitted to the Earth, in addition, the cosmonaut himself also filmed video using the S-97 camera.

Rough landing

During the return of the spacecraft to the Planet on March 19, the spacecraft's automatic landing system failed, so the cosmonauts had to land Voskhod-2 manually. The landing was carried out in an unplanned place - in the taiga, 180 kilometers from Perm. Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov were discovered only four hours later, and the heroes were evacuated only two days later, and the astronauts had to use skis to get to the helicopter landing pad.

space race

Domestic cosmonauts managed to overtake the American astronauts at this checkpoint of the space race. US Representative Edward White did the first spacewalk on June 3, 1965. Apparently, because of this, the phrase "Triumph of the country of the Soviets" was printed on Soviet postage stamps dedicated to the feat of Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov.

Since the first human spacewalk, 729 walks in airless outer space have been made with a total duration of more than four thousand hours. Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya stepped outside her spacecraft on July 25, 1984, becoming the first woman to walk in outer space. In total, 210 people visited the airless space. The record holder for the number of spacewalks is Anatoly Solovyov - he has 16 of them with a total duration of more than 78 hours.

One of the greatest events of the 20th century is the first flight and spacewalk of a man. The population of the planet learned from Gagarin that the Earth is round. Leonov became a pioneer. It turned out that the first people in space were from the USSR. On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. This event was followed by the whole country. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was outside the Voskhod-2 spacecraft for only 12 minutes, but these minutes have gone down in the history of cosmonautics forever. You will learn about how the preparations for the first spacewalk took place, what difficulties the crew of the spacecraft experienced in this article.

Preparations for the first human spacewalk

The idea that it is possible for a man to go into outer space came to Korolev as early as 1963. The designer suggested that soon such an experience would not only be desirable, but absolutely necessary. He turned out to be right. In the following decades, astronautics developed rapidly. For example, maintaining normal operation The ISS would not have been possible at all without external installation and repair work, which once again proves how necessary the first manned spacewalk was. The year 1964 was 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 consider the design of the ship.

Voskhod-2 spacecraft

As a result, the well-proven Voskhod-1 was taken as the basis. One of its windows was replaced with an exit lock, and the crew was reduced from three to two. The lock chamber itself was inflatable and located outside the ship. After the completion of the experiment, before landing, she had to separate herself from the hull. This is how the Voskhod-2 spacecraft appeared.

suit

The created suit became a real miracle of technology. According to the firm belief of its creators, it was a product more complicated than a car

Especially for Voskhod-2, special spacesuits were developed, which bore the formidable name Berkut. They had an additional sealed shell, and a satchel with a life support system was placed behind the cosmonaut's back. For better light reflection, even the color of the suits was changed: white was used instead of the traditional orange. Total weight"Berkut" was about 100 kg. the suits were very uncomfortable. They were so dense that in order to clench the hand into a fist, it was necessary to apply an effort of almost 25 kilograms. To be able to make any movement in such clothes, he had to constantly train. The work was worn out, but the astronauts stubbornly went to the cherished goal - to make possible way out man in outer space. Leonov, by the way, was considered the strongest and most enduring in the group, which largely predetermined him leading role in the experiment.

Later, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov recalled:

For example, to squeeze a hand in a glove, a force of 25 kg was needed.

The color of the suit has also changed. "Berkut", in order to better reflect the sun's rays, was made white, not orange. A special light filter appeared on his helmet, which was supposed to protect the astronaut's eyes from bright sunlight.

The crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft

It was not immediately decided on whom to entrust this responsible mission. Multiple psychological compatibility tests were carried out. After all, the crew must act as a single mechanism.
Belyaev - restrained and cold-blooded and could quickly make a decision in non-standard situations. Leonov, his complete opposite, is hot and impetuous, but very brave and courageous. These two are different person made an excellent tandem for the experiment.
For 3 months, the cosmonauts got acquainted with the structure of the new spacecraft. The spacewalk training was carried out on board the Tu-104 aircraft, in which a life-size model of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft was installed. Every day, Soviet cosmonauts ran cross-country skis or cross-country skis, intensively engaged in weightlifting and gymnastics.

Cosmonauts Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov

From the memoirs of Alexei Leonov about preparing for a spacewalk: “On Earth, we carried out tests in a pressure chamber with a vacuum corresponding to an altitude of 60 km ... In reality, when I went into space, it turned out a little differently. The pressure in the suit is about 600 mm, and outside - 10 - 9; it was impossible to simulate such conditions on Earth ... "

At that moment, when Alexei Leonov climbed out of his spaceship on March 18, 1965 and saw himself at an altitude of 500 kilometers above the surface of our planet, he did not feel movement at all. Although in fact he was rushing around the Earth at a speed that was many times higher than the speed of a jet aircraft. Before Alexey, a panorama of our planet, unprecedented by anyone, opened up - like a giant canvas, which was saturated with contrasting textures and colors, lively and bright. Alexey Leonov will forever remain the first person who was able to see the Earth in all its splendor.

The Soviet cosmonaut at that moment simply took his breath away:

It's hard to even imagine what it was. Only in space can one feel the greatness and gigantic dimensions. human environment environment - on Earth you will not feel this

In outer space, Alexei Leonov began to carry out the observations and experiments envisaged by the program. He made five exits and approaches from the lock chamber, with the very first withdrawal made at a minimum distance - one meter - for orientation in new conditions, and the rest for the full length of the halyard. All this time, the spacesuit was maintained at “room” temperature, and its outer surface was heated in the sun to +60°C and cooled in the shade to -100°C. Pavel BELYAEV, using a camera and telemetry, monitored the work of the co-pilot in space and was ready, if necessary, to provide the necessary assistance to him.

At that moment, when Alexei Leonov saw the Yenisei and the Irtysh, he received a command from the commander of the ship Belyaev to return back. But Leonov did not manage to do this for a very long time. It turned out that his spacesuit in a vacuum was greatly swollen. So much so that the astronaut simply could not squeeze into the hatch of the airlock, and there was no time to consult with the Earth about this situation. Leonov made attempt after attempt, but they all ended in vain, and the supply of oxygen in the spacesuit was only enough for 20 minutes, which inexorably melted away (the astronaut spent 12 minutes in space). In the end, Alexei Leonov decided to simply relieve pressure in his spacesuit and, contrary to the instructions issued, instructing him to enter the airlock with his feet, he decided to “swim” into it face first. Fortunately, he succeeded. And although Leonov spent only 12 minutes in outer space, during this time he managed to get wet as if a whole tub of water had been poured on him - the physical load was so great.

Photo of the first human spacewalk

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Video

Video of the first human spacewalk with video footage inserts

Feature film "Time of the First"

The heroism of the crew members of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft inspired the creative team of Timur BEMKAMBETOV and Yevgeny MIRONOV to create a large-scale production film project, the heroic drama Time of the First, dedicated to one of the most risky expeditions into orbit and Alexei LEONOV's spacewalk

Documentary film by the Roscosmos television studio “Alexey Leonov. Jump into space"

The film is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the first cosmonaut who went into outer space.

Interesting facts about the first human spacewalk

• Critical situation during exit from orbit. The crew of Voskhod-2 could have been the first crew to die on return from orbit. Refused before boarding automatic system orientation. Belyaev manually oriented the ship and turned on the brake engine. As a result, Voskhod landed in the taiga (180 km north of the city of Perm). In the TASS report, this was called "landing in the 'reserve area'", which in fact was the remote Permian taiga. After landing, the huge canopy of the parachute, stuck on two tall fir trees, fluttered in the wind. Soon an IL-14 was already circling above them. Radio contact was immediately established from the aircraft and the astronauts were informed that they had been found and help would be sent soon. The astronauts spent the night in the forest. Helicopters could only fly over them and report that “one is chopping wood, the other is putting it on the fire.” Warm clothes and food were dropped from helicopters to the cosmonauts, but Belyaev and Leonov could not be pulled out of the taiga. From the memoirs of Leonov: “When we landed, they didn’t find us right away ... We sat in spacesuits for two days, we didn’t have other clothes. On the third day we were pulled out of there. Because of the sweat, my suit was knee-deep in moisture, about 6 liters. So in the legs and bubbling. Then, already at night, I say to Pasha: "Well, that's it, I'm cold." We took off our suits, stripped naked, wrung out our underwear, put it back on. Then the screen-vacuum thermal insulation was sporulated. They threw away all the hard part, and put the rest on themselves. These are nine layers of aluminized foil, covered with dederon on top. Parachute lines were wrapped around the top like two sausages. And so they 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 directly towards us. Then Slava Volkov (Vladislav Volkov, future cosmonaut of TsKBEM) and others came to us on skis. They brought us warm clothing, poured cognac, and we gave them our alcohol - and life became more fun. The fire was lit, the boiler was put on. We washed. In about two hours they cut down a small hut for us, where we spent the night normally. There was even a bed
• The day before the start there was a big trouble. Due to the negligence of a security guard, an inflatable airlock, hung out of the ship to check the tightness, unexpectedly fell and broke. There was no spare, and therefore it was decided to use the one on which long time astronauts trained. This incident could have turned out to be fatal, but, fortunately, everything worked out, the reused airlock survived, and the first manned spacewalk successfully took place.

The dangers of spacewalks

Spacewalks are dangerous for many different reasons. The first is the possibility of a collision with space debris. The orbital speed at an altitude of 300 km above the Earth (typical flight altitude of manned spacecraft) is about 7.7 km/s. This is 10 times the speed of a bullet, so the kinetic energy of a small particle of paint or a grain of sand is equivalent to the same energy of a bullet with 100 times the mass. With each spaceflight, more and more orbital debris is introduced, which is why this problem continues to be the most dangerous.


A potential danger is the possibility of loss or unacceptable removal from the spacecraft, threatening death due to the exhaustion of the supply of breathing mixture. Possible damage or punctures of spacesuits are also dangerous, the depressurization of which threatens with anoxia and rapid death if the astronauts do not have time to return to the spacecraft in time.

On October 20, 1965, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) marked the record for a man to stay in open space outside of a ship - 12 minutes and 9 seconds. Alexei Leonov received the highest FAI award - the gold medal "Cosmos" for the first spacewalk in the history of mankind. Crew commander Pavel Belyaev also received a medal and a diploma.

Leonov became the fifteenth person in space, and the first person to take the next fundamental step after Gagarin. To be alone with the abyss, the most hostile space for a person, to look at the stars only through the thin glass of a helmet, to hear the beating of your heart in absolute silence and come back is a real feat. A feat behind which stood thousands of scientists, engineers, workers and millions ordinary people, but it was done by one person - Alexei Leonov.

The term "activity in open space" (eng. Extra-vehicular activity, EVA) is broader and also includes the concept of leaving the ship on the surface of the Moon, planet or other space object.

Historically, due to differences in design features of the first spacecraft, the Americans and Russians define the moment of the start of spacewalks in different ways. From the very beginning, Soviet spacecraft had a separate airlock compartment, which is why the start of spacewalk is considered the moment when the astronaut depressurizes the airlock and finds himself in a vacuum, and its completion is the moment the hatch is closed. Early American ships did not have an airlock, and the entire ship was depressurized during a spacewalk. Under these conditions, the moment when the astronaut's head protruded beyond the spacecraft was taken as the beginning of the spacewalk, even if his body still continued to be inside the compartment (the so-called eng. Stand-up extra-vehicular activity, SEVA). Modern American yardstick takes the suit switch to self-powered as the start and the start of pressurization as the end of the EVA.

Spacewalks can be performed in different ways. In the first case, the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft with a special safety line, sometimes combined with an oxygen supply hose (in this case it is called the “umbilical cord”), while simply the astronaut’s muscular efforts are enough to return to the spacecraft. Another option is a fully 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 astronaut).

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ Astronaut talks about spacewalk

✪ Astronaut work in outer space

✪ Spacewalk by Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko

Subtitles

Historical facts

• The longest spacewalk was the American Susan Helms on March 11, lasting 8 hours and 56 minutes.
• The record for the number of exits (16) and for the total duration of stay (82 hours 22 minutes) in open space belongs to Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov.
• The first spacewalk in interplanetary space was performed by American astronaut Alfred Warden, a member of the crew of the Apollo 15 lunar expedition. Warden went into outer space to transfer the captured photographic films of the mapping and panoramic cameras from the service module to the command module.

The dangers of spacewalks

A potential danger is the possibility of loss or unacceptable removal from the spacecraft, threatening death due to the depletion of the supply of breathing mixture. Possible damage or punctures of spacesuits are also dangerous, the depressurization of which threatens with anoxia and quick death if the astronauts do not have time to return to the ship in time. The spacesuit damage incident occurred only once, when during the flight of Atlantis STS-37, a small rod pierced the glove of one of the astronauts. Luckily, depressurization did not occur, because the rod got stuck and blocked the hole that had formed. The puncture was not even noticed until the astronauts returned to the ship and began checking the suits.

It is significant that the very first rather dangerous incident happened already during the first spacewalk of an astronaut. Having completed the first exit program, Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov experienced difficulties returning to the ship, since the swollen spacesuit did not pass through the Voskhod airlock. Only the release of the oxygen pressure in the spacesuit made it possible then to complete the flight safely.

Another potentially dangerous event occurred during the second spacewalk of the astronauts of the Discovery spacecraft (flight STS-121). A special winch detached from Piers Sellers' spacesuit, which helps to return to the station and prevents the astronaut from flying into outer space. Noticing the problem in time, Sellers and his partner were able to attach the device back, and the exit was completed safely.

While there are currently no known accidents associated with spacewalks, spacecraft developers are trying to reduce the need for extravehicular activities. The elimination of such a need, for example, when performing assembly work in space, can be helped by the development of special remote-controlled

When in 1961 Yuri Gagarin went to conquer space, the entire population of the planet was surprised and shocked by his feat. The following achievements of the USSR astronautics continued to amaze the whole world. Just a few years later, the first human spacewalk took place. Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich was the very cosmonaut who went down in history. The ship's crew commander was Pavel Belyaev.

the day before

Four years have passed since Yuri Gagarin's historic flight. All this time, humanity continued to watch with enviable interest the race of 2 superpowers in space - the USA and the USSR. They have already managed to send several manned spacecraft into orbit. And in 1964, the leadership of the Communist Party informed the world that three Soviet cosmonauts had flown to the stars at once. Accordingly, the next fundamental step should be an exit into open space.

Meanwhile, both states continued to pursue their own space programs. For example, experts understood that during long-term flights the astronaut would sooner or later have to carry out certain work outside the spacecraft. It was also clear that they would be carried out exclusively by the pilots themselves. Therefore, it was urgently necessary to develop an efficient and, most importantly, safe system for carrying out such work. In the Soviet empire, Academician Korolev dealt with these issues. And the thirty-year-old cosmonaut from the 1st detachment, Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, turned out to be the main and direct executor of these undertakings.

To do this, scientists began to improve the Voskhod spacecraft. In February 1965, all work was already completed ... When was Leonov's first spacewalk? We will talk about this further.

advanced spacecraft

The ship "Voskhod-2" is an improved version of the apparatus, on which three pilots flew at once in the distant 1964, as mentioned above.

The new spaceship was adapted for the flight of two astronauts. On it, cosmonaut Leonov was supposed to make a spacewalk. A special inflatable lock chamber was provided on board for access to outer space. The system of the device was as follows: the chamber was inflated, which was already ready to receive the pilot. When preparations were made for landing, the camera automatically "shot back" and the spacecraft itself descended without it.

By the way, this whole experiment with the camera and the astronauts was pretty risky. The fact is that the specialists did not have time to thoroughly check the operation of absolutely all systems. One month before the flight, the unmanned spacecraft was blown up by mistake. After this incident, S. Korolev and M. Keldysh had a long conversation with the pilots. As a result, the planned spacewalk by cosmonaut Leonov was not cancelled.

The versatility of the "golden eagle"

All domestic spacesuits were called names birds of prey. So, there is a space suit "Orlan". There is "Krechet", there is "Hawk", "Falcon" ... The very first spacesuit for entering outer space was called "Berkut". He weighed about 40 kg. In conditions of weightlessness, this indicator absolutely did not matter. But, however, this figure gave an idea of ​​the seriousness of the whole structure.

The spacesuit systems were very efficient and quite simple. So, the specialists abandoned the regeneration unit, and when exhaling carbon dioxide directly released into outer space.

This suit was used once when the Belyaev-Leonov crew went into space. Experts say that Berkut is still considered not only the only and unique spacesuit, but also universal. And the versatility consisted in the fact that it is intended both for rescuing astronauts in case of depressurization of the spacecraft, and for exiting a person into space. open space.

Obvious Threats

Our contemporaries are well aware of the dangers that a priori may threaten a pilot in outer space.

1. The pilot may lose contact with the aircraft. So, Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was tied to Voskhod-2 with a reliable halyard. Its length is 5.5 m. During the historical exit of man into open space, the cosmonaut repeatedly stretched out to the length of the cable, and then pulled himself up to the apparatus. In fact, it was only thanks to the strength of this safety line that the pilot could actually return home.
2. In open space, an astronaut could encounter the so-called "space debris". True, in those days such a possibility was negligible. Recall that before Voskhod-2, only eleven manned spacecraft and a number of satellites were in orbit. All of them were quite in low orbits and, accordingly, the lion's share of the debris that remained after them quickly burned out. Thus, they did not have time to harm anyone.
3. Of course, the pilot has a serious risk that he will run out of oxygen. The Berkut suit was designed specifically for spacewalks. He has complete autonomy. Air supply - 1666 l. The maximum duration of stay outside the apparatus is 45 minutes. During this time, the pilot must have time to enter the airlock, go into space, go into free flight and return to the airlock. No resource to fix possible errors or rescue was not foreseen at all.
4. The astronaut may be in danger of hypothermia or overheating. So, Leonov successfully managed to complete his exit before the spacecraft fell into the shadow of our planet. Otherwise, such low temperatures could seriously complicate all the actions of the astronaut. In addition, in pitch darkness, he would not be able to cope with the safety cable and the entrance to the airlock.
5. In open space, an astronaut could receive a certain dose of radiation. When cosmonaut Leonov made the first spacewalk, he, according to him, was very lucky. The fact is that in his exit into space, he only touched the edge of the radiation-dangerous zone. When Leonov returned, experts recorded a rather large dose of radiation from him, but this, fortunately, did not lead to damage to his health.

Mission Complete

The date of the spacewalk of Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov is March 18, 1965. A spacecraft called Voskhod-2 took off from the ground from Baikonur. As soon as the ship entered orbit, the airlock was inflated on the very first orbit. When Voskhod was already entering the second orbit, Leonov moved into the cell. After that, the crew commander finally battened down the hatch behind his colleague.

A few minutes later, air began to bleed in the chamber. And two minutes later the pilot had already decided to go into an abyss unknown to him - into outer space.

He began to conduct experiments and observations, which were provided by the program. He moved away from the apparatus by a meter and returned. He constantly talked on the radio station not only with Belyaev, but also with employees of ground services.

After some time, the commander managed to connect the phone in the Leonov spacesuit to the broadcasts of the capital's radio. At this moment, the announcer Levitan was reading an informational message about the exit of the Soviet man into outer space. And the entire population of the planet, through television broadcasting from the cameras of the apparatus, could see that Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov nevertheless made a spacewalk. He waved his hand to the whole world right from there...

3001 problem

Leonov's spacewalk could end very badly. When the astronauts carefully prepared for the flight, they worked out three thousand different emergency situations. Of course, they found the same number of solutions. However, Alexei Leonov has repeatedly admitted that in outer space, according to the law, the 3001st unforeseen situation will also arise. And that is what needs to be addressed urgently. So, in fact, it happened.

When the outer space experiment program ended, Leonov was ordered to return. But it was very difficult to do so. Due to the pressure in space, the suit lost its flexibility. Besides, he was bloated. In other words, the astronaut was inside an inflated and rather large balloon. And, accordingly, he was not able to climb into the airlock. In addition, the supply of oxygen in the "Berkut" was running out. Thus, Leonov had to make a certain decision. And urgently. First, he wanted to report an emergency situation on Earth. But then he realized that advice would not help him, since he was the only person who had ever encountered something like this.

Be that as it may, the astronaut found a way out of the apparent impasse. In defiance of all instructions, he vented excess oxygen to reduce the size of the suit and pulled himself head first into the airlock. By by and large, he managed to do this only thanks to his excellent physical training.

After that, Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, with tremendous efforts, was able to turn around, lifting the hatch. Air began to enter the chamber. It seemed that all the dangers had finally passed ...

Long way home

So, the struggle of the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov for life, fortunately, has already ended. However, at least serious problem. The fact is that the partial pressure of oxygen was recorded in the cabin. And it kept growing and growing. And, accordingly, if the smallest spark appears in the instrument circuits, then all this could lead to a real explosion.

Later, the cause of this problem was found out. For a long time, the apparatus heated up unevenly, as it was corrected relative to the Sun. Because of this, the hull of the ship was slightly deformed.

In addition, as it turned out, air was escaping from a small gap in the hatch of the cell. Unfortunately, the Soviet cosmonauts could not deal with the problem and therefore watched the instrument readings with horror. However, when the pressure returned to normal, the hatch slammed shut, and the threat finally disappeared.

True, the troubles of the crew did not end at all. Voskhod 2 should start landing after the seventeenth orbit. However, braking technology automatic mode for some reason it didn't work. The spacecraft was in orbit. The crew members had to carry out the landing program in manual mode. Belyaev was able to orient the ship in the correct position, sending it to a deserted taiga area. According to the recollections of the commander, at that moment he was most afraid that the device would fall into a densely populated area or touch power lines.

There was also the danger of landing in then unfriendly China. Fortunately, this did not happen.

The ship landed in a dense snow-covered taiga, thirty kilometers from the town of Berezniki, in the Perm region.

Unfortunately, the astronauts were not immediately found. From the helicopter, rescuers quickly found the parachutes, which hung on the branches of tall trees. But landing the aircraft was very difficult. And at that time it was not possible to pull out the landing crew members. Thus, for two days the astronauts sat in the forest and waited for help. At the same time, thirty-degree frosts began.

For insulation, they used parachutes and spacesuits. They also lit a fire. In the morning, a rescue party arrived a few kilometers from the landing site of the spacecraft. They were clearing the area for the helicopter. In addition, they managed to throw warm clothes and food off him. And a group of specialists went down on the ropes together with a doctor. It was they who were able to provide the astronauts Better conditions. So, they erected a hut, equipped sleeping places, and the next day the platform for receiving the helicopter was finally prepared. True, everyone had to ski another nine kilometers to get to it.

Some time later, the cosmonauts flew to Perm aboard a helicopter. First of all, they called the head of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev. They reported that the first spacewalk of Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev had been successfully completed. A day later, they were already met by the capital ...

well deserved glory

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov was the 15th pilot who went into space. In addition, he is considered the person who was able to take a fundamental step after the great Gagarin.

In the fall of 1965, the FAI (International Aviation Federation) officially confirmed the record for a man in space. Leonov's spacewalk lasted a little over twelve minutes. He was awarded a prestigious medal called "Cosmos". This award of this federation is considered the highest. In addition, the commander of "Voskhod-2" P. Belyaev was also awarded a diploma and a medal.

At home, Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, the merits of the Soviet cosmonaut were marked by many other awards. By the way, one of the lunar craters bears his famous name.

Followers

The first spacewalk was carried out by the Soviet crew 2.5 months earlier than the US astronauts.

The first US pilot who was in open space was E. White. It happened at the very beginning of the summer of 1965. The duration of stay in outer space is twenty-two minutes.

And in the spring of 2001, White's compatriot S. Helms broke the record for longest stay in space. This American woman was in space for almost nine hours!

The national cosmonaut A. Solovyov became the undisputed champion in the number of exits. Sixteen times he had to go into outer space. At the same time, the total duration of his stay there is more than eighty-two hours, which, in fact, is also a record.

The first person who went into interplanetary space was A. Warden from the USA. He was one of the participants in the famous lunar expedition. The astronaut had to go into space in order to transfer the finished negatives from one module to another.

Well, the first woman who went into space was Svetlana Savitskaya. Her exit into the open space took place in the middle of the summer of 1984 ...

"Time of the First"

A film was made about the events associated with the first manned spacewalk. The film was released in the spring of 2017. The producers of the project were T. Bekmambetov and E. Mironov, including. According to them, they were inspired by the heroism of the Voskhod-2 crew members. As a result, the producers created a large-scale motion picture called "Time of the First". Naturally, the state corporation Roskosmos supported this project in every possible way.

In fact, the events of those historical days are not scrupulously restored in this tape. And the goal of the producers was still different. They were not even filming a feature film, they were working on a sci-fi film based on a real and legendary flight on March 18, 1965.