Today in History 03/18/18

Russian astronaut Alexei Leonov steps from the spaceship Voskhod 2 to become the first human to walk in outer space, March 18, 1965 (© Central Press/Getty Images)(1965) USSR’s Alexey Leonov takes the first spacewalk
Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov emerges from his spacecraft and spends 12 minutes suspended in outer space, with only a tether connecting him to his craft. It’s humankind’s first “extravehicular activity,” or EVA.
Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov is a retired Soviet/Russian cosmonaut, Air Force Major general, writer and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to conduct extravehicular activity, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for a 12-minute spacewalk.
Born: May 30, 1934 (age 83) · Listvyanka, Russia
Height: 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Spouse: Svetlana Pavlovna Dozenko
Space missions: Voskhod 2 · Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
Movies: Tank on the Moon
Children: Oksana A. (Daughter) · Viktoria A. (Daughter)
Highlights
  • 1960: Leonov was one of the 20 Soviet Air Force pilots selected to be part of the first cosmonaut group in 1960.

  • 1965: On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to conduct extravehicular activity (EVA), exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for a 12-minute spacewalk.

  • 1965: He was outside the spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds on 18 March 1965, connected to the craft by a 5.35-meter tether.

  • 1968: In 1968, Leonov was selected to be commander of a circumlunar Soyuz 7K-L1 flight.

  • 1970: A crater on the far side of the moon was named after Leonov in 1970, near Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow).

  • 1984: Leonov, along with Rusty Schweickart, Vitaly Sevastyanov, and Georgi Grechko established the Association of Space Explorers in 1984.

RIAN archive 888102 Soviet cosmonauts
Soviet cosmonauts (front row, from left): Vladimir Komarov, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Andrian Nikolayev, Konstantin Feoktistov, Pavel Belyaev, second row: Alexei Leonov, German Titov, Valery Bykovsky, Boris Yegorov, and Pavel Popovich. Star City.
wiki/Alexey_Leonov
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