First spacewalk (Alexei Leonov, Voskhod 2)
Primer paseo espacial (Alekséi Leónov, Vosjod 2)
- Date
- 18 de marzo de 1965 · confidence high
- Place
- Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (USSR)
- Credited to
- Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev; Soviet Voskhod programme
- Field
- Movement
What was discovered
Leonov left Voskhod 2 through an inflatable airlock on 18 March 1965 and spent 12 minutes 9 seconds in the vacuum. He had to reduce the pressure of his suit, which had ballooned, in order to get back in.
The capsule also landed far from the planned site, in the Urals; the incident was long concealed.
What it led to
- a demonstration that work outside the spacecraft is possible
- Ed White's spacewalk (Gemini 4) a few months later
- design of airlocks and extravehicular activity suits