RIP Alexey Leonov
Posted: October 12th, 2019, 8:15 pm
Alexei Leonov, the legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human to walk in space 54 years ago, has died in Moscow at 85.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced the news on its website on Friday, but gave no cause of death. Leonov had health issues for several years, according to Russia media.
Showing just how much of a space pioneer Leonov was, Nasa interrupted its live televised coverage of a spacewalk by two Americans outside the International Space Station to report Leonov’s death.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/oct/11/alexei-leonov-space-walk-human-death-cosmonaut-russia
His walk in space was originally to have taken place on the Voskhod 1 mission, but this was cancelled, and the historic event happened on the Voskhod 2 flight instead.
He was outside the spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds on 18 March 1965, connected to the craft by a 4.8-metre (16 ft) tether.
At the end of the spacewalk, Leonov's spacesuit had inflated in the vacuum of space to the point where he could not re-enter the airlock. He opened a valve to allow some of the suit's pressure to bleed off and was barely able to get back inside the capsule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Leonov
Colourised footage of Alexey Leonov taking the first ever space-walk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAPBRvd8OTY
On the shoulders of giants....
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced the news on its website on Friday, but gave no cause of death. Leonov had health issues for several years, according to Russia media.
Showing just how much of a space pioneer Leonov was, Nasa interrupted its live televised coverage of a spacewalk by two Americans outside the International Space Station to report Leonov’s death.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/oct/11/alexei-leonov-space-walk-human-death-cosmonaut-russia
His walk in space was originally to have taken place on the Voskhod 1 mission, but this was cancelled, and the historic event happened on the Voskhod 2 flight instead.
He was outside the spacecraft for 12 minutes and nine seconds on 18 March 1965, connected to the craft by a 4.8-metre (16 ft) tether.
At the end of the spacewalk, Leonov's spacesuit had inflated in the vacuum of space to the point where he could not re-enter the airlock. He opened a valve to allow some of the suit's pressure to bleed off and was barely able to get back inside the capsule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Leonov
Colourised footage of Alexey Leonov taking the first ever space-walk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAPBRvd8OTY
On the shoulders of giants....
Cheers,
Itsallaguess