Alexei Leonov Made First 12-Minute Spacewalk, Venting Suit Oxygen to Re-enter Voskhod 2
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 4
Alexei Leonov Made First 12-Minute Spacewalk, Venting Suit Oxygen to Re-enter Voskhod 2
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 4
Summary
Just over 12 minutes into the first human spacewalk on 18 March 1965, Alexei Leonov had to lower pressure in his Berkut suit after it ballooned in vacuum and would not fit back through Voskhod 2’s inflatable airlock.
The emergency came from basic EVA physics: the pressurized suit stiffened and swelled in near-zero pressure, turning the garment that kept him alive into an obstacle to movement and re-entry.
Later memoirs described a more dramatic head-first scramble, but Smithsonian-backed reviews of contemporary reports and footage indicate the firmer account is that Leonov had planned the pressure drop and re-entered feet-first.
Voskhod 2’s troubles continued after the hatch closed, with an oxygen-rich cabin, failed automatic re-entry, a manual descent and an off-target landing that left Leonov and commander Pavel Belyayev stranded in snowy taiga for two nights.
Leonov beat the first U.S. spacewalk by less than three months, and his near-miss helped define later EVA design—handholds, restraint, cooling and suit flexibility became essential rather than optional.
What critical engineering lesson from Leonov's ballooning suit ensured the safety of every subsequent spacewalker in history?
How did one near-fatal spacewalk and a Siberian survival ordeal permanently change astronaut training and safety protocols?
Why did the Soviet Union conceal the true extent of the Voskhod 2 disaster for decades after its historic spacewalk?
Breaking Barriers: How Alexei Leonov’s 1965 Spacewalk Redefined Human Spaceflight and International Collaboration
Overview
Alexei Leonov made history as the first human to perform a spacewalk, bravely stepping outside his spacecraft in 1965. This unprecedented achievement required new techniques to survive the dangers of space and laid the foundation for all future extravehicular activities. Leonov’s courage and innovation not only made him a hero of space exploration but also helped shape the technology and procedures used today. Beyond his own accomplishments, he played a key role in fostering international cooperation, especially through the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, showing that shared human endeavor could bridge divides even during intense rivalry.