Who went into outer space. First human spacewalk

One of the greatest events of the twentieth century - the first flight and exit of man into outer space. 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. March 18, 1965 from the board spaceship Voskhod 2 was the first spacewalk performed by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. 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 the normal operation of the ISS in general would have been impossible 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.

Voskhod-2 spacecraft

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

Suit "Berkut"

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. The total weight of the 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 it possible for a man to go into 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 crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft

It was not immediately decided on whom to entrust this responsible mission. Multiple tests have been carried out on psychological compatibility. After all, the crew must act as a single mechanism.
Belyaev is self-possessed and cool-headed and could quickly make decisions 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 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 giant size 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 - so great was exercise stress.

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 while returning 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 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 clothes, 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 for a 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 kinetic energy 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 depletion 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. Alexey Leonov received the highest award FAI- 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.

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.

Telegraph agency 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 onboard 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:

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 bright sunlight. 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 ...

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

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 life-size model of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft was installed. 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 national pride 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 spacewalks and active work, fundamentally different “suits” were needed that would have protection from solar radiation and cosmic cold, a thermoregulation system, 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 in a special knapsack and included, in addition to the ventilation system, 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 during the preparation of astronauts for flight physical form received a lot of attention. 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 on Far East in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft, performing 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 graduated from 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 the human body would react to a spacewalk. 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 fire ball 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 concealed real dangers for 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. 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 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, the “room” temperature was successfully maintained in his spacesuit, while the working surface of the Berkut was either heated in the sun to +60 ° C, or cooled in the shade to -100 ° C.

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.

Sources of information:
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

The beginning of the rapid study of the universe is considered to be April 12, 1961, when a man went into space for the first time and it was Yuri Gagarin, a citizen of the USSR. Year after year after his flight, more and more discoveries were made.

open space

Being outside a spaceship in one spacesuit is a risky business. Exactly 52 years ago, the pilot of the Soviet Union Alexei Leonov made a spacewalk. Despite the fact that Leonov spent only 12 minutes in vacuum, it was a real feat. These few minutes the cosmonaut calls absolute silence, he spoke about this in his first interviews. Today year of human spacewalk every student 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 did when he was 31 years old.

How it was

The first ever human walk in space outside the side of the ship caused a real delight all over the world. Moreover, this happened precisely when the USSR and America fiercely competed for the title of the 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 American national pride.

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 with his feet forward, but with his head. Cosmonaut Leonov spacewalk, despite all the problems, performed successfully and landed successfully.

Despite the technical inspection of the vessel and its thorough preparation for the flight, problems still arose. A sharp temperature drop led to the fact that a crevice formed in the hatch lining. What would entail the depressurization of the ship and the death of the astronauts. After the first spacewalk year Over the years, research has become more and more active.

In the days of the Soviet Union, they kept silent about the emergency situations that occurred, 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 Alexei Leonov spacewalk almost committed without a safety cable, and if not for the commander of the ship, who noticed this in time, Belyaev's body to this day would be in the orbit of the planet.

What did Leonov feel?

Astronaut's spacewalk This is a real feat and a breakthrough in science. Alexey Leonov will forever remain the first person in the history of mankind who saw the planet Earth from a height of 500 km. At the same time, he did not feel movement at all, although he flew at a speed several times higher than the speed of a jet aircraft. It is impossible on Earth to feel the gigantic environment surrounding a person, this is available only from space. When Leonov saw the Irtysh, he received a command to return to the abortion of the ship, but he could not do it right away because of the swollen spacesuit. Luckily, Alexei Leonov's spacewalk ended successfully.

In March 1965, the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft took place. The crew consisting of cosmonauts P. I. Belyaev and A. A. Leonov faced a difficult, but very responsible task - to carry out the first human spacewalk in history.

The direct implementation of the experiment fell to the lot and on March 18 he successfully coped with it. The cosmonaut went into open space, moved away from the ship by 5 meters and spent a total of 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside it.

The flight of the Voskhod was not without emergency situations and curious cases. It is difficult to describe how much mental and physical strength the people who were preparing this grandiose experiment - man's exit into outer space had to expend. Interesting facts and little-known details of the flight and its preparation became the basis of this article.

Idea

But then, in 1964, in order to implement such a daring project, it was necessary to seriously consider the design of the ship. 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.

There was another, more serious problem. Such a dangerous experiment had to be tested on animals first. However, this was abandoned, considering that the development of a special space suit for the animal was too troublesome and costly. Besides, he would not answer the most main question: how will a person behave in outer space? It was decided to conduct experiments immediately on humans.

Today, astronauts are able to leave the ship for several hours and perform very complex manipulations in outer space. But in the 1960s, it seemed completely fantastic, or even suicidal.

Crew

Initially, the group of cosmonauts preparing for the flight consisted of Leonov, Gorbatko and Khrunov. Belyaev was on the verge of expulsion from the cosmonaut corps for health reasons, and only at the insistence of Gagarin was he included in the flight preparation group.

As a result, two crews were formed: the main one - Belyaev, Leonov - and the backup - Gorbatko, Khrunov. Special requirements were imposed on the crews of this expedition. The team had to work as a whole, and the astronauts had to be compatible with each other in terms of psychology.

The test results showed that Belyaev has great endurance and composure, is able not to lose his head in any situation, and Leonov, on the contrary, is impulsive, impulsive, but at the same time unusually brave and courageous. These two people, so different in character, could work perfectly in pairs, which was necessary condition in order to carry out the first human spacewalk.

Workout

For the first three months, the cosmonauts were engaged in studying the design and devices of the new spacecraft, followed by lengthy training in weightlessness. This required a maneuverable aircraft and a very experienced pilot who could perform with confidence. For an hour-long flight, the aircraft was able to simulate weightlessness for a total of about 2 minutes. It was during this time that the astronauts had to have time to work out the entire planned program.

Initially, they flew on MIG sparks, but the astronauts tied with belts were unable to move. It was decided to take a more spacious Tu-104LL. Inside the aircraft, a mock-up of a part of a spacecraft with an airlock was installed, and on this impromptu simulator, the main training took place.

Uncomfortable space suits

Today in the Museum of Cosmonautics you can see the same spacesuit in which Leonov carried out a man's spacewalk. A photo of a smiling cosmonaut in a helmet with the inscription "USSR" spread around all the newspapers of the world, but no one could imagine how much effort this smile cost.

Especially for Voskhod-2, special spacesuits were developed, which bore the formidable name Berkut. They had an additional hermetic shell, and a satchel was placed behind the cosmonaut's back. For better light reflection, even the color of the spacesuits was changed: white was used instead of the traditional orange. The total weight of the Berkut was about 100 kg.

All trainings were already held in spacesuits, the supply system of which left much to be desired. The air supply was extremely weak, which means that at the slightest movement, the astronaut immediately became covered with perspiration from tension.

In addition, 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 it possible for a man to go into outer space. Leonov, by the way, was considered the strongest and most enduring in the group, which largely predetermined his main role in the experiment.

demonstration performance

In the midst of training, Charles de Gaulle, a great friend of the USSR, flew to Moscow, and Khrushchev decided to brag to him about the successes of Soviet cosmonautics. He decided to show the Frenchman how astronauts work out a man's spacewalk. It immediately became clear that it was the crew that would participate in this “performance” that would be sent on a real flight. By order of Gagarin, at this crucial moment, Khrunov is replaced by Belyaev. According to Khrunov, he did not understand the motives for this replacement and for a long time retained a grudge against Gagarin for this inexplicable act.

Later, Gagarin explained his position to Khrunov, he believed that it was necessary to give Belyaev last chance fly into space. Young Khrunov could do this more than once later, besides, Belyaev was better suited to Leonov from a psychological point of view.

Trouble before the start

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 the astronauts trained for a long time. 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.

Spacewalk

Concerning human behavior in outer space, there were detractors who argued that an astronaut who stepped outside the spacecraft would immediately be welded to it, would be deprived of the ability to move, or it was completely difficult to imagine what else a person’s exit into outer space could turn out to be. 1965 could easily have been a year of great failure. However, only practice could confirm or refute these pessimistic theories.

In addition, no rescue systems had yet been developed at that time. The only thing that was done for the astronauts was the permission, in which case, just open the hatch and put your hand out of it.

When the spacecraft entered its assigned orbit, Leonov began to prepare for the exit. Everything went according to plan, when the X-hour came, the astronaut gently pushed off and floated out of the airlock into outer space.

The most terrible predictions of skeptics did not come true, and the astronaut felt quite well. He completed the entire prescribed program, and it was time to return to the ship. There were some problems with this. The suit, swollen in weightlessness, did not allow Leonov to enter the airlock. Then, without consulting anyone, he independently lowered the pressure in the suit and rushed into the airlock head first, and not vice versa, as planned. The first manned spacewalk was completed, and Alexei Leonov forever inscribed his name in the history of astronautics.

Incident on the way down

"Voskhod-2" had many shortcomings, and after the successful completion of the flight program, an emergency occurred. When the exit airlock was fired, the solar-star orientation sensors were stuck. When the ship made its 16th orbit around the Earth, an order was received from the control center to descend. But the ship continued to fly, as if nothing had happened. When he went on the 17th revolution, it became clear that the automatic attitude control system did not work, and the crew had to switch to manual control. Flight, main task which was a man's spacewalk, could end in disaster.

At the cost of incredible efforts, Belyaev and Leonov regained control of the ship, but they were still almost a minute late in shutting down the engines. As a result, the planned landing site was left far behind and the descender landed in the dense forests of Perm.

Rescue operation

The astronauts stayed winter forest two long days. True, one helicopter still tried to throw off their warm clothes, but missed, and the bundle was lost in the snowdrifts.

The helicopter could not land in deep snow among the trees, and the astronauts did not have necessary equipment not to cut down trees, not to flood the snow with water and make a makeshift ice landing site. In the end, the rescue team reached the frozen astronauts on foot and was able to get them out of the thicket.

Despite all the difficulties of preparation and unpleasant incidents during the flight, Belyaev and Leonov coped with their main task - they carried out a manned spacewalk. The date of this event became one of the most significant milestones in the history of Soviet cosmonautics.