First Human Spacewalk: Alexei Leonov's Historic EVA (Voskhod 2, 1965)

On **March 18, 1965**, Soviet cosmonaut **Alexei Leonov** became the first human to exit a spacecraft and float freely in space—a 12-minute, 9-second extravehicular activity (EVA) during the **Voskhod 2** mission that nearly ended in disaster.

The Mission

• Spacecraft: Voskhod 2 (modified Vostok, 3-man capacity reduced to 2 for airlock)
• Crew: Pavel Belyayev (commander), Alexei Leonov (pilot/EVA)
• Launch: Baikonur Cosmodrome, 07:00 UTC
• Orbit: 173 x 498 km, 64.8° inclination

The Spacewalk

At 08:34:51 UTC, Leonov entered the inflatable airlock (Volga), depressurized, and exited. Tethered by a 5.35m umbilica carrying oxygen, communications, and telemetry, he floated to the tether's end, performed somersaults, photographed Earth, and observed the spacecraft.

Near-Fatal Complications

1. Suit ballooning: In vacuum, Leonov's Berkut suit stiffened and expanded, making joints immobile. Hands slipped from gloves; feet from boots.
2. Re-entry crisis: Couldn't fit through airlock headfirst. Risked decompression sickness (the bends) by venting suit pressure to 0.27 atm (vs. 0.4 atm design), barely squeezing in feet-first.
3. Thermal stress: 20-minute EVA (planned 10); core temperature rose 1.8°C; sweat filled suit.
4. Landing emergency: Automatic guidance failed; manual retrofire 46s late. Landed 386 km off-target in Ural taiga (-25°C). Spent 2 nights in capsule before ski-plane rescue.

Legacy

Leonov's EVA proved humans could work in space—essential for Apollo, Salyut, Mir, ISS, and future exploration. His suit issues directly influenced NASA's Gemini EVA designs (Gemini 4, Ed White, June 1965). Leonov later commanded Soyuz 19 (Apollo-Soyuz, 1975). Died 2019, age 85.

First American EVA: Ed White, Gemini 4, June 3, 1965 (23 minutes). First woman: Svetlana Savitskaya, Salyut 7, July 25, 1984.