Webkinz Insider

COWS4YOU · 03-17-2010, 11:53 PM

Soviet Union cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to take a space walk in 1965. Thanks to space.com we know a little more about that day.

As the slugfest for dominance in space raged on between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts in the mid-1960s, the U.S.S.R. scored a big first 45 years ago when Alexei Leonov exited the airlock of the Voskhod 2 spacecraft.
Hardly knowing what to expect, Leonov became the first human to ever walk in the vacuum of space as he braved 10 minutes outside the Voskhod 2 while his crewmate Pavel Belyayev anxiously waited inside the craft on March 18, 1965.
Over the years, Leonov's adventure in space has become a legend, retold numerous times and shrouded in myth. In recent years, several Russian-language sources have revealed many previously unknown facts about the mission, while also posing more questions for historians.
Voskhod 2 successfully reached orbit on March 18, 1965. The crew almost immediately started preparing for the spacewalk. Commander Belyaev helped Leonov don his emergency pack and attach the umbilical cord.
Leonov successfully depressurized the airlock and left the spacecraft. "I felt good and reported what I saw," Leonov said.
However, about 10 minutes into the walk Leonov noticed trouble.
"The spacesuit started behaving absolutely different from what it did on the ground," Leonov said.
The suit ballooned up, constricting his movements and forcing his hands and feet out of the gloves and boots. By the time Leonov was ready to reenter the spacecraft things got out of hand.
"Despite a tight fit, my feet got out of [the suit's] boots and [my] hands out of [the] gloves, Leonov remembers. "The work became impossible, I tried to grab the handles [on the airlock] and my fingers wouldn't workthe gloves' fingers would just bend on me."
The situation also was complicated by the fact that Leonov was holding a camera he had removed from the edge of the airlock.
At this point Leonov, without consulting with ground control, decided to use a special valve to drop the pressure inside the suit by almost 200 percent. "I decided I was breathing oxygen long enough to prevent boiling nitrogen in the blood (decompression sickness)," he said. "There was some risk, but I had nothing else to do, and once I did, everything started going normal."
"I did not ask the ground about it. I figured, I don't have time for that. I could just imagine all their discussions [about what to do]," Leonov said. "It would be me who had to do it anyway."
Upon finally entering the airlock head first, Leonov encountered another problem: How to turn "upright" to close the hatch of the airlock behind him. The airlock was around 4 feet (120 centimeters) in diameter, while Leonov's height in the spacesuit was around 6 feet (190 centimeters).
"I literally had to fold myself, to do this," Leonov said, "I spent tremendous effort trying to do this, I had a total of 60 liters [of air] for ventilation and breathing, which was not enough for this kind of action."
Leonov's spacesuit filled with sweat, almost up to his ankles.
Finally, the cosmonaut closed the hatch, pressurized the airlock and rejoined Belyayev.

What an incredible journey he had! The weekend is almost here and that means Spring Break is almost over for some of you; make the most of your days off and have fun!