1 person in outer space. Leonov's first spacewalk: history of exploration. The flight ended on skis

On March 18, 1965, our country entered another milestone in space exploration. The two-seat Voskhod-2 spacecraft was launched into the Earth's orbit, which had the task of conducting a new experiment for mankind - a man's exit into outer space. This event was followed by the whole country. Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov was outside the Voskhod-2 spacecraft for only 12 minutes, but those minutes were forever included in astronautics.

The brave Soviet cosmonaut, getting out of the hatch of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, took a step into history. It easily separated from the ship and swam to the side for the length of its tether, which was connected to the spacecraft. Before returning back to the ship, the cosmonaut removed the movie camera from the bracket, wrapped a halyard around his hand and entered the airlock. Especially for the spacewalk, specialists from NPO Zvezda developed the Berkut spacesuit. And the spacewalk training itself was carried out on board the Tu-104 aircraft, in which a mock-up was installed spaceship"Voskhod-2" in full size. Some time later, the Americans also made their spacewalk, but this happened already on June 3, 1965, so the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov forever remained the first person to go into outer space.

On March 18, 1965, the first space walk in the history of mankind caused a real shock and delight in the world. It is important to understand that this happened at a time when the US and the USSR were in a very intense competition for supremacy in the field of space exploration. The flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft was regarded at that moment as a very serious propaganda success for the country of the Soviets, and also as a blow to the national pride of the Americans.

Suit "Berkut"

It is clear that for a person to survive in a vacuum, special clothes were needed, the development of which was undertaken by the NPO Zvezda. On their first flights, Soviet cosmonauts went in SK-1 rescue suits, which weighed only 30 kg. They were equipped with autonomous oxygen supply in case of a possible accident, and also had positive buoyancy - in case the astronauts would have to splash down instead of landing. However, for spacewalking and active work, fundamentally different “suits” were needed, which would have protection from solar radiation and cosmic cold, a thermoregulation system, and a powerful life support system.

Especially for going into space, the Berkut spacesuit was created, it differed significantly from the model in which the astronauts flew on the Vostoks. To increase its reliability, an additional reserve hermetic shell was introduced into the composition of the suit. The top overalls were sewn from a special metallized multilayer fabric - screen-vacuum insulation. In fact, the suit was a thermos, which consisted of several layers of plastic film coated with aluminum. A special gasket made of screen-vacuum insulation was also installed in shoes and gloves. Outdoor clothing was supposed to protect the astronaut from possible mechanical damage to the sealed part of the spacesuit, since such clothing was made of very durable artificial fabrics that were not afraid of low and high temperatures. At the same time, the suit became significantly heavier, and a new life support system added weight to it. This system was located in a special knapsack and, in addition to the ventilation system, also included two oxygen cylinders, two liters each. A fitting for filling them and a pressure gauge window were fixed on the body of the knapsack, designed to control pressure. In case of an emergency, there was a backup oxygen system in the lock chamber, which was connected to the suit with a hose.

The total weight of the new suit was close to 100 kg. Therefore, during terrestrial training, the astronauts had to ride in a kind of “runner”, which supported the rigid part of the spacesuit. However, under weightless conditions, the weight of the suit did not play any significant role. Significantly more interference was created by air pressure, which filled the hermetic shell, making the suit unyielding and rigid. The astronauts had to overcome the resistance of their own vestments with noticeable effort. Later, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov recalled: "For example, to squeeze a hand in a glove, a force of 25 kg was needed." It is for this reason that great attention was paid to physical fitness during the preparation of astronauts for flight. Every day, Soviet cosmonauts ran cross-country skis or cross-country skis, intensively engaged in weightlifting and gymnastics.

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

Voskhod-2 spacecraft

After the first successful flight into space of the multi-seat Voskhod-1 spacecraft, the following goal was set in the USSR - the implementation of a manned spacewalk. This event was to be a significant milestone in the Soviet lunar program. To prepare for this mission new ship Voskhod 2 was modified from Voskhod 1.

The Voskhod-1 spacecraft had a crew of 3 cosmonauts. At the same time, the cabin of the ship was so cramped that they were on board without spacesuits. In the ship "Voskhod-2" the number of seats was reduced to two. At the same time, a special lock chamber "Volga" appeared on the ship. During the launch, this lock chamber was in the folded state. In this state, the dimensions of the chamber were: diameter - 70 cm, length - 77 cm. The lock chamber weighed 250 kg. In space, the airlock inflated. The dimensions of the chamber in the inflated state were: length - 2.5 meters, outer diameter - 1.2 meters, inner diameter - 1 meter. Before the spacecraft deorbited and landed, the lock chamber fired from the spacecraft.

Since the Voskhod-2 ship was designed for two people, in addition to Leonov, there should have been one more cosmonaut on it. One person was a navigator (he also went into outer space), the second was a commander who piloted the ship. Alexei Leonov was able to ensure that his friend Pavel Belyaev took the place of commander on his ship. Belyaev was 10 years older than his friend and met the end of World War II in the Far East in the cockpit of a fighter jet, flying sorties against Japanese troops. He was a skilled and brave pilot. Leonov was able to achieve his appointment even though the doctors were very worried about the leg injury that Pavel Belyaev received while performing a parachute jump.

Alexey Leonov

Alexei Leonov was born in 1934 in the tiny village of Listvyanka, located in Western Siberia (Kemerovo region). When he was 3 years old, his father was repressed. The Leonovs were branded as enemies of the people, while the authorities turned a blind eye to the fact that their neighbors looted their property. However, Alexey is always reluctant to recall these events. Already in childhood, the boy discovered the talent of an artist in himself, but nevertheless decided to go the other way. He successfully completed military school and became a fighter pilot.

Shortly after graduating from college, Alexei received an offer to try his hand at a competition for a cosmonaut corps. Leonov managed to get a place in the detachment, he became one of its twenty members, among whom was Yuri Gagarin, who made the first flight into space in 1961.
At that time, no one knew how human body will respond to spacewalks. For this reason, all Soviet cosmonauts were subjected to very intense training. The ongoing tests were to show how far it would be possible to push the mental and physical limits of the capabilities of the human body. Later, Alexei Leonov recalled: “The astronaut had to be physically prepared. Every day I ran at least 5 kilometers and swam 700 meters.

At one time, the cosmonaut training center banned the game of hockey. This happened after several people were injured during this game. In return, the astronauts were offered volleyball, basketball and football. Flights into space subjected the human body to high overloads. Therefore, during training, the candidates rotated in centrifuges - sometimes this led to loss of consciousness. Also, future cosmonauts were locked in a sound chamber or pressure chamber in conditions of prolonged loneliness. Such experiments were dangerous, since a fire could start in the oxygen-rich atmosphere of the chamber.

And such an accident really happened in 1961. Then, during a training session in a pressure chamber, Valentin Bondarenko accidentally dropped a cotton swab with alcohol on a closed spiral of a hot electric stove. As a result, the fireball literally swallowed him up. Bondarenko died a few hours later in the hospital from severe burns. After this incident, engineers began to use ordinary air during training. So the path to space was not only thorny and difficult, but also fraught with real dangers to life.

Spacewalk

Even the spacewalk itself could have ended tragically for Alexei Leonov, but then everything worked out, although a sufficient number of emergency situations were recorded during the flight. In the days of the USSR, they simply kept silent about this, the truth surfaced relatively recently. Troubles haunted the Voskhod-2 crew both during the spacewalk and at the time of landing, but in the end everything ended well, and Alexei Leonov is alive to this day, the famous Soviet cosmonaut turned 80 on May 30, 2014.

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. A panorama of our planet that no one had seen before opened before Alexei - like a giant canvas, which was saturated with contrasting textures and colors, alive 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 of the human environment - you will not feel this on Earth. Five times the cosmonaut flew away from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft and returned to it again. All this time, "room" temperature was successfully maintained in his spacesuit, while the working surface of the "Berkut" either warmed up in the sun to +60 ° C, then cooled in the shade to -100 ° C.

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 - so great was exercise stress.

Solemn meeting of the crew members of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft - Pavel Belyaev (left) and Alexei Leonov, 1965

The second unpleasant situation occurred already at the exit from orbit. The crew of Voskhod-2 could have been the first crew to die while returning from orbit. During the descent to Earth, there was a problem with the detachable service module on board, which led to the rotation of the capsule with the astronauts, who experienced very strong overloads. The tumbling stopped only when the cable connecting this module completely burned out, and the capsule with the astronauts turned out to be free.

The second error crept into the calculations of the MCC engineers, as a result of which the capsule with the astronauts landed hundreds of kilometers from the calculated point. The astronauts ended up in the remote Siberian taiga. Only 7 hours after landing, a monitoring station in West Germany reported that it had detected a coded signal sent by the astronauts. As a result, the astronauts spent the night in the forest, waiting for rescuers. They had to leave the taiga on skis, but already there, on the “mainland”, they were greeted as real heroes and conquerors of space.

Information sources:
http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/598
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_9531/index.html
http://www.calend.ru/event/5984
http://www.sgvavia.ru/forum/95-4980-1

March 18, 1965 - was in orbit Voskhod-2 spacecraft launched with astronauts: Commander of the ship - Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev , pilot - Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov. During the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, an astronaut A.A. Leonov carried out the first manned spacewalk lasting 12 minutes.

The ship was equipped with an inflatable lock chamber "Volga". Before the launch, the chamber folded and measured 70 cm in diameter and 77 cm in length. In space, the chamber was inflated and had the following dimensions: 2.5 meters in length, inner diameter - 1 meter, outer - 1.2 meters. Camera weight - 250 kg. Before deorbiting, the camera fired back from the ship. A space suit was developed for spacewalking "Golden eagle" . He provided a stay in outer space for 30 minutes.The first exit took 23 minutes 41 seconds (outside ship 12 minutes 9 seconds) .

It's interesting that training before this flight was carried out on board the Tu-104AK aircraft, in which a full-size model of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft was installed with a real lock chamber (it was she who flew into space later). During the flight of an aircraft along a parabolic trajectory, when weightlessness set in for several minutes, the cosmonauts practiced exit in a spacesuit through an airlock.

Voskhod-2 launched on March 18, 1965 at 10:00 Moscow time. The airlock was already inflated on the first turn. Both astronauts were in space suits. According to the program, Belyaev was supposed to help Leonov return to the ship in the event of an emergency.

The spacewalk began on the second orbit. Leonov moved into the lock chamber and Belyaev closed the hatch behind him. The air was then bled from the chamber and 11:32:54 Belyaev opened the outer hatch of the lock chamber from his remote control in the ship. AT 11:34:51 Alexei Leonov left the airlock and ended up in outer space. Leonov gently pushed off and felt the ship tremble from his push. The first thing he saw was the black sky. Belyaev's voice was immediately heard:

- "Diamond-2" began to exit. Movie camera on? - the commander addressed this question to his comrade.
- Understood. I am Almaz-2. I take off the lid. Throw away. Caucasus! Caucasus! I see the Caucasus below me! Began to withdraw (from the ship).
Before throwing the lid away, Leonov thought for a second whether to send it into satellite orbit or down to Earth. Thrown to the ground. The astronaut's pulse was 164 beats per minute, the moment of exit was very tense.
Belyaev transmitted to Earth:
-Attention! The man went into outer space!
The television image of Leonov soaring against the background of the Earth was broadcast on all television channels.

The total weight of the "exit suit" was close to 100 kg ... Five times the astronaut flew away from the ship and returned on a halyard, 5.35 m long ..
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…

The flight of Vostok-2 went down in history twice.

In the first, official and open, it was said that everything went brilliantly.

TASS message dated March 18, 1965:
Today, March 18, 1965, at 11:30 Moscow time, during the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, a man's exit into outer space was carried out for the first time. On the second circuit of the flight, co-pilot pilot-cosmonaut Lieutenant Colonel Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich, in a special spacesuit with an autonomous life support system, made an exit into outer space, retired from the ship at a distance of up to five meters, successfully carried out a set of planned studies and observations and safely returned to the ship. With the help of the on-board television system, the process of Comrade Leonov's exit into outer space, his work outside the spacecraft and his return to the spacecraft were transmitted to Earth and observed by a network of ground stations. The state of health of Comrade Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov during his stay outside the ship and after returning to the ship is good. The commander of the ship, comrade Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev, is also feeling well.

In the second, which was gradually revealed and never published in detail, there are at least three emergency situations.
Leonov was observed on television and broadcast the image to Moscow. When leaving the ship for five meters, he waved his hand in
open space. Leonov was outside the airlock for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. But it turned out that getting out was easier than going back. The suit swelled in space and could not fit into the airlock. Leonov was forced to relieve pressure in order to “lose weight” and make him softer. Still, he had to climb back not with his feet, as was planned, but with his head. All the vicissitudes of what happened during the return to the ship, we found out only after the landing of the astronauts. A.A.Leonov's spacesuit, after being in space, lost its flexibility and did not allow the astronaut to enter the hatch. A.A. Leonov made attempt after attempt, but to no avail. The situation was complicated by the fact that the supply of oxygen in the spacesuit was designed for only twenty minutes, and each failure increased the degree of risk to the astronaut's life. Leonov limited the flow of oxygen, but from excitement and exertion, his pulse and breathing rate increased sharply, which means that more oxygen was required. S.P. Korolev tried to calm him down, instill confidence. On Earth, they heard the reports of A.A. Leonov:"I can't, I failed again."

According to the cyclogram, Aleksey had to swim into the chamber with his feet, then, having fully entered the airlock, close the hatch behind him and seal it. In reality, he had to bleed the air from the spacesuit almost to critical pressure. After several attempts, the astronaut decided
“float” into the cockpit facing forward. He succeeded, but at the same time he hit the glass of the helmet against its wall. It was scary - because the glass could burst. At 08:49 UTC the exit hatch of the airlock was closed and at 08:52 UTC pressurization of the airlock began.

After returning to the ship, the troubles continued. Second state of emergency It was incomprehensible pressure drop in the cabin pressurization cylinders from 75 to 25 atmospheres after Leonov's return. It was necessary to land no later than the 17th orbit, although Grigory Voronin, the chief designer of this part of the vital system, reassured that there would be enough oxygen for another day. Here is how Alexei Arkhipovich describes the events:

... the partial pressure of oxygen (in the cabin) began to grow, which reached 460 mm and continued to grow. This is at a rate of 160 mm! But after all, 460 mm is explosive gas, because Bondarenko burned out on this ... At first we sat in a daze. Everyone understood, but they could do almost nothing: they completely removed the humidity, removed 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. Seven hours in this state, and then fell asleep ... apparently from stress. Then we figured out that I had touched the boost switch with a hose from the spacesuit ... What actually happened? Since the ship was stabilized relative to the Sun for a long time, then, naturally, a deformation arose; after all, on the one hand, cooling to -140 ° C, on the other, heating to + 150 ° C ... The sensors for closing the hatch worked, but a gap remained. The regeneration system began to build up pressure, and oxygen began to grow, 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.

Further more. TDU (brake propulsion system) did not work in automatic mode and the ship continued to fly. The crew was instructed to land the ship in manual mode on the 18th or 22nd turn. Here is another quote from Leonov:

We went over Moscow, inclination 65°. We had to land exactly on this turn, and we ourselves chose the area for landing - 150 km from Solikamsk with a heading angle of 270 °, because there was taiga. No businesses, no power lines. They could land in Kharkov, in Kazan, in Moscow, but it was dangerous. The version that we got there due to imbalance is complete nonsense. We ourselves chose the landing site, as it was safer and possible deviations in the engine operation shifted the landing point also to safe areas. Only it was impossible to land in China - then relations were very tense. As a result, at a speed of 28,000 km / h, we sat down only 80 km from our calculated point. This is a good result. And then there were no reserve landing sites. And we weren't expected...

Finally, a report came in from a search helicopter. He discovered a red parachute and two astronauts 30 kilometers southwest of the city of Bereznyaki. The dense forest and deep snow made it impossible for helicopters to land near the astronauts. There were no settlements nearby either. Landing in the deep taiga was the last emergency in the history of Voskhod-2. The cosmonauts spent the night in the forest of the Northern Urals. 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. A group of skiers with a doctor, who landed one and a half kilometers away, reached them through the snow in four hours, but did not dare to take them out of the taiga. A real competition unfolded for the salvation of the astronauts.
The landfill service, encouraged by Tyulin and Korolev, sent its rescue expedition to Perm, led by Lieutenant Colonel Belyaev and the foreman of our plant, Lygin. From Perm, they got by helicopter to a site two kilometers from Voskhod-2 and soon hugged the astronauts. Marshal Rudenko forbade his rescue service to evacuate astronauts from the ground to a hovering helicopter. They stayed in the taiga for a second cold night, although now they had a tent, warm fur uniforms and plenty of food. It came to Brezhnev. He was convinced that lifting astronauts into a helicopter hovering near the ground was a dangerous business.

Brezhnev agreed and approved a proposal to cut down trees nearby to prepare a landing site. When we landed, we were not immediately found ... We sat in spacesuits for two days, we had no 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 clothes, poured brandy, 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. On March 21, a helicopter landing site was prepared. And on the same day, on board the Mi-4, the cosmonauts arrived in Perm, from where they made an official report on the completion of the flight. And yet, despite all the problems that arose during the flight, it was the first, very first exit of man into outer space. Here is how Alexey Leonov describes his impressions:

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 struck and fascinated 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 was leaving the gateway, I felt a powerful stream 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 ...

Alexey Leonov is a name that speaks for itself. The first person to go into outer space! A crater on the Moon, an airport in Kemerovo, a street in Perm and a school in the city of Gagarin are named after him.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, a man of legend. We seemed to know everything about him and his life! But there is another Leonov and another life...

In our film, we found a man who was involved in rescuing Leonov when he landed in the remote taiga, two thousand kilometers from the desired point! And for the first time, Leonov spoke about the fact that he was consulted by the producers of the Hollywood film Gravity. After all, he, like no one else, knows what emergency situations in space can threaten. How many of them he himself experienced!

Many myths are associated with Leonov's work. We will show the chronicle of Leonov's spacewalk. The announcer speaks in an enthusiastic voice about the feat of the Soviet cosmonaut. The next news release - Leonov and the commander of the ship Belyaev are already being greeted as heroes in Moscow. But what's left behind the scenes? It turns out that Leonov almost died during that flight!

The astronaut will tell you that his spacesuit was so swollen that he could not enter the ship's airlock. Then, contrary to all instructions, he bled pressure in the spacesuit and pulled himself into the hatch not with his feet, but with his head forward. Further more. The ship lost its automatic orientation. The astronauts had to land the ship further than the landing point - over 2000 kilometers! Leonov will remember how they tried to keep warm by the fire in the remote Permian taiga, without warm clothes and food.

Leonov has been on the verge of death more than once! So, in 1969, Leonov was in the motorcade of Leonid Brezhnev - everyone went to the Kremlin for a reception in honor of the astronauts. On the same day, an attempt was made on Brezhnev. The Secretary General himself was not affected, but the driver, with whom Leonov was sitting next to, was killed. The bullet flew only 20 centimeters from the astronaut! “Unless a miracle saved me,” says Leonov.

Together with Leonov, we went to the town of Kirzhach - the place where Gagarin died. We visited the research and production enterprise "Zvezda", where its engineers showed us the same airlock of the ship, which Leonov could not enter, and the same capsule in which he descended to earth.

We will also see a painting of an astronaut! Leonov has been painting for more than half a century!

The film features:

Alexei Leonov - cosmonaut, twice Hero of the USSR;

Iosif Kobzon - singer, People's Artist of the USSR;

Viktor Gorbatko - cosmonaut, twice Hero of the USSR;

Viktor Blagov - chief specialist in space flight control;

Boris Mikhailov - head of the testing department of NPP Zvezda;

Viktor Naumkin - pilot of the search and rescue service;

Natalia Koroleva - daughter of Sergei Koroleva;

Anatoly Gushchin - actor;

Yuri Lonchakov - Head of the Cosmonaut Training Center;

On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov made the first spacewalk in history.

This mission was the most important stage in the development of astronautics. The whole country was following her!

Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was on board the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, which launched at 10:00 Moscow time. The ship's commander was Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev. The ship was equipped with an inflatable lock chamber "Volga". Before launch, it folded, and in space - inflated.

The spacewalk began on the second orbit. A. Leonov moved into the lock chamber and P. Belyaev closed the hatch behind him. Then the air from the chamber was bled. At 11:34:51 Alexei Leonov left the airlock and ended up 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! The man went into outer space!

The television image of Aleksey 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 Moscow time, during the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, a man's exit into outer space was carried out for the first time. On the second circuit of the flight, co-pilot pilot-cosmonaut Lieutenant Colonel Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich, in a special spacesuit with an autonomous life support system, made an exit into outer space, retired from the ship at a distance of up to five meters, successfully carried out a set of planned studies and observations and safely returned to the ship. With the help of the on-board television system, the process of Comrade Leonov's exit into outer space, his work outside the spacecraft and his return to the spacecraft were transmitted to Earth and observed by a network of ground stations. The state of health of Comrade Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov during his stay outside the ship and after returning to the ship is good. The commander of the ship, comrade Pavel Ivanovich Belyaev, 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 specially designed for the exit. He provided a stay in outer space for 30 minutes.

Due to the pressure difference in space, the spacesuit swelled up and lost its flexibility. This greatly prevented the astronaut from entering 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 successfully.

A. Leonov describes his impressions of what he saw in this way:

The first exit of man into outer space marked a new stage in the development of astronautics and science in general!

Alexei Leonov is the first cosmonaut to go into outer space.

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov

Out in outer space

March 1965 is forever imprinted not only in the history of Russian cosmonautics. The 18th day of this month was hardly a less glorious milestone for the entire earthly civilization on the path to conquering space than the Gagarin flight:

Alexei Leonov, USSR cosmonaut number 11, left the airlock of the spacecraft, made a spacewalk. For the successful completion of his mission, Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It is difficult to overestimate the achievements of those years in the field of peaceful space exploration, because that was the time of the first.

Biography of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov

On the penultimate day of May 1934, the Leonov family, who then chose a small Siberian settlement as their place of permanent residence, was replenished with another child, who was named Alexei. The head of the family, Arkhip Leonov, moved to Siberia from Ukraine after he retired Civil War, following his father, whom the tsarist government sent into exile here back in 1905.

The wave of mass repressions and political persecution that swept across the country in 1937-1938 also affected the Leonov family: the entire family was declared “enemies of the people” and deprived of their homes. A temporary shelter was found in the regional center - the city of Kemerovo. After the rehabilitation of 1939, the Leonovs moved to Kaliningrad, where the father of the family was offered a job in his profile (electrician).

Alexei Leonov, being an extremely inquisitive child, had diverse hobbies: fencing, athletics, technical sciences, plumbing, painting. In almost all sports areas, he has achieved serious success, confirmed by the relevant categories. In 1953, having received a secondary general education, Alexey decided to go to the Kremenchug aviation school. Then the young pilot continued his studies at the Military aviation school in the city of Chuguev, Kharkiv region.

On March 18, 1965, having been selected for the team of the first cosmonauts, Alexei Leonov took a direct part in the flight beyond the earth's atmosphere, which lasted a little over 2 hours. Cosmonaut Pavel Belyaev became his partner. During this event, Leonov made a video recording, being outside the Voskhod-2 spacecraft for a little more than 12 minutes.

After this significant event, cosmonaut A. Leonov participated in the preparation of programs for the exploration of the moon, which were subsequently curtailed due to the loss of the USSR championship in the "lunar race" with the United States.

Aleksey Arkhipovich always strived to have the most up-to-date knowledge in the technical field: in parallel with his main job, he received additional education at the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy.

In 1971, Leonov was given command of the crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft. In 1975, he flew into Earth orbit together with cosmonaut Valery Kubasov on the Soyuz-19 spacecraft. At the same time, the first docking with an American spacecraft was made.

From 1976 to 1991, Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov worked at the Cosmonaut Training Center. In 1992, he retired with the rank of Major General of Aviation. Since then, he has been living in Moscow, conducting scientific activities related to ensuring the safety of space flights. The choice of this vector of research may be due to the problems that Alexei Leonov had to face during the flight on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft

Voskhod-2

The feat of Yuri Gagarin was the first step on the difficult path of exploration of near-Earth space. The astronaut's spacewalk was the next mission, in the technical support of which advanced Soviet enterprises were involved. The Berkut space suit was developed at the Zvezda Research and Production Enterprise taking into account the specifics of the planned event: its purpose was not only to ensure safety during spacewalks, but to save the astronaut in the event of a depressurization of the spacecraft. Having passed the required preparatory procedures, the crew of two (Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov) went into orbit on March 18, 1965 at 10:00 Moscow time. Everything was running normally. Having made two orbits around the planet, the cosmonauts decided that Leonov would leave the spacecraft. At 11:34 he, having passed the lock chamber, found himself in an airless space, where he stayed for 12 minutes. When we returned, the problems began.

Difficult return

For safety reasons, the astronaut kept in touch with the spacecraft via a 5-meter connecting cord. According to Leonov, staying in the vacuum of space was overshadowed by severe physical discomfort (tachycardia, shortness of breath, increased sweating, fever). Trying to return to the airlock, Aleksey ran into a problem that could not even be imagined during the preparation of the flight: the spacesuit was swollen and did not allow the astronaut to get on the ship. The entrance to the airlock became possible only after the pressure was released from the suit. Not having time to take a breath after such a test, the astronauts received a signal about the depressurization of the ship: after the regular disconnection of the airlock, the hatch was damaged and did not fit snugly into the grooves. By turning on the oxygen supply from spare tanks, Leonov managed to put an end to this problem. But a new one was already looming on the horizon: automatic system landing control failed, and P. Belyaev had to take control. Because of this, it was not possible to proceed to the landing site on Earth at the given coordinates: we had to land in the taiga far from settlements. The astronauts were found only a day later with the help of a helicopter. On March 21, they were already at the spaceport.

The time of the first is the time of people who longed to conquer the hostile space, glorify their country, and most importantly, open new horizons for all mankind. And they succeeded! After a safe return, cosmonaut Leonov made a report to the state commission, which he concluded with the words: “You can live and work in outer space!”.