Rest In Peace.
Oct. 11, 2019
Alexei Leonov, released in space in 1965, died on Friday at the age of 85.
Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first spacewalker
Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov died Friday at the age of 85. He was the first man to make a spacewalk in 1965 and, ten years later, commanded the first joint space mission of the USSR and the United States.
On March 19, 1965, Alexei Leonov made his first outing from his ship Voskhod-2 in the open space, earning him the nickname of first "pedestrian of space". He had cautiously departed two to three meters from the ship, finding the operation very painful.
First spacewalk, Alexey Leonov, March 18, 1965
Blinded by the Sun, despite his golden visor, he was held securely by a cable at the airlock of his ship. "Here, I try," he said, leaving. The operation lasted twenty minutes, twelve minutes entirely outside the Voskhod.
Long illness
The cosmonaut was also the Soviet side commander of the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975, the first joint between the two rivals of the Cold War and the space race. This mission marked the beginning of a technological cooperation that continues today.
The cosmonaut was also a close friend of his compatriot Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. When he died in a plane crash on March 27, 1968 near Moscow, he was one of the first on the scene.
Alexei Leonov died "after a long illness," his collaborator Natalia Filimonova told AFP. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Moscow, announced the Cosmonaut Preparation Center.
Alexey Leonov - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Leonov
Image, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/AFP/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
R.I.P.; Orbiter.ch
