Leonov astronaut with whom he flew into space. First spacewalk. Why you need to go into outer space

In March 1965, the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft took place. The crew consisting of cosmonauts P. I. Belyaev and A. A. Leonov faced a difficult, but very responsible task - to carry out the first human spacewalk in history.

The direct implementation of the experiment fell to the lot and on March 18 he successfully coped with it. The cosmonaut went into open space, moved away from the ship by 5 meters and spent a total of 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside it.

The flight of the Voskhod was not without emergency situations and curious cases. It is difficult to describe how much mental and physical strength the people who were preparing this grandiose experiment - man's exit into outer space had to spend. Interesting facts and little-known details of the flight and its preparation became the basis of this article.

Idea

The idea that it is possible for a man to go into outer space came to Korolev as early as 1963. The designer suggested that soon such an experience would not only be desirable, but absolutely necessary. He turned out to be right. In the following decades, astronautics developed rapidly. For example, maintaining the normal operation of the ISS in general would have been impossible without external installation and repair work, which once again proves how necessary the first manned spacewalk was. The year 1964 was the beginning of official preparations for this experiment.

But then, in 1964, in order to implement such a daring project, it was necessary to seriously consider the design of the ship. As a result, the well-proven Voskhod-1 was taken as the basis. One of its windows was replaced with an exit lock, and the crew was reduced from three to two. The lock chamber itself was inflatable and located outside the ship. After the completion of the experiment, before landing, she had to separate herself from the hull. This is how the Voskhod-2 spacecraft appeared.

There was another, more serious problem. Such a dangerous experiment had to be tested on animals first. However, this was abandoned, considering that the development of a special space suit for the animal was too troublesome and costly. In addition, he would not give an answer to the most important question: how will a person behave in outer space? It was decided to conduct experiments immediately on humans.

Today, astronauts are able to leave the ship for several hours and perform very complex manipulations in outer space. But in the 1960s, it seemed completely fantastic, or even suicidal.

Crew

Initially, the group of cosmonauts preparing for the flight consisted of Leonov, Gorbatko and Khrunov. Belyaev was on the verge of expulsion from the cosmonaut corps for health reasons, and only at the insistence of Gagarin was he included in the flight preparation group.

As a result, two crews were formed: the main one - Belyaev, Leonov - and the backup - Gorbatko, Khrunov. Special requirements were imposed on the crews of this expedition. The team had to work as a whole, and the astronauts had to be compatible with each other in terms of psychology.

The test results showed that Belyaev has great endurance and composure, is able not to lose his head in any situation, and Leonov, on the contrary, is impulsive, impulsive, but at the same time unusually brave and courageous. These two people, so different in character, could perfectly work in pairs, which was a necessary condition in order to carry out the first manned spacewalk.

Workout

For the first three months, the cosmonauts were engaged in studying the design and devices of the new spacecraft, followed by lengthy training in weightlessness. This required a maneuverable aircraft and a very experienced pilot who could perform with confidence. For an hour-long flight, the aircraft was capable of simulating weightlessness for a total of about 2 minutes. It was during this time that the astronauts had to have time to work out the entire planned program.

Initially, they flew on MIG twins, but the astronauts tied with belts were unable to move. It was decided to take a more spacious Tu-104LL. Inside the aircraft, a mock-up of a part of the spacecraft with an airlock was installed, on this impromptu simulator, the main training took place.

Uncomfortable space suits

Today in the Museum of Cosmonautics you can see the same spacesuit in which Leonov carried out a man's spacewalk. A photo of a smiling cosmonaut in a helmet with the inscription "USSR" spread all over the newspapers of the world, but no one could imagine how much effort this smile cost.

Especially for Voskhod-2, special spacesuits were developed, which bore the formidable name Berkut. They had an additional hermetic shell, and a satchel was placed behind the cosmonaut's back. For better light reflection, even the color of the spacesuits was changed: white was used instead of the traditional orange. The total weight of the Berkut was about 100 kg.

All trainings took place already in spacesuits, the supply system of which left much to be desired. The air supply was extremely weak, which means that at the slightest movement the astronaut immediately became covered with perspiration from tension.

In addition, the suits were very uncomfortable. They were so dense that in order to clench the hand into a fist, it was necessary to apply an effort of almost 25 kilograms. To be able to make any movement in such clothes, he had to constantly train. The work was worn out, but the astronauts stubbornly went to the cherished goal - to make it possible for a man to go into outer space. Leonov, by the way, was considered the strongest and most enduring in the group, which largely predetermined his main role in the experiment.

demonstration performance

In the midst of training, Charles de Gaulle, a great friend of the USSR, flew to Moscow, and Khrushchev decided to brag to him about the successes of Soviet cosmonautics. He decided to show the Frenchman how astronauts work out a man's spacewalk. It immediately became clear that it was the crew that would participate in this “performance” that would be sent on a real flight. By order of Gagarin, at this crucial moment, Khrunov is replaced by Belyaev. According to Khrunov, he did not understand the motives for this replacement and for a long time retained a grudge against Gagarin for this inexplicable act.

Later, Gagarin explained his position to Khrunov, he believed that it was necessary to give Belyaev one last chance to fly into space. Young Khrunov could do this more than once later, besides, Belyaev was better suited to Leonov from a psychological point of view.

Trouble before the start

The day before the start there was a big trouble. Due to the negligence of a security guard, an inflatable airlock, hung out of the ship to check the tightness, unexpectedly fell and broke. There was no spare, and therefore it was decided to use the one on which the astronauts trained for a long time. This incident could have turned out to be fatal, but, fortunately, everything worked out, the reused airlock survived, and the first manned spacewalk successfully took place.

Spacewalk

Concerning human behavior in outer space, there were detractors who argued that an astronaut who stepped outside the spacecraft would immediately be welded to it, would be deprived of the ability to move, or it was completely difficult to imagine what else a person’s exit into outer space could turn out to be. 1965 could easily have been a year of great failure. However, only practice could confirm or refute these pessimistic theories.

In addition, no rescue systems had yet been developed at that time. The only thing that was done for the astronauts was the permission, in which case, just open the hatch and put your hand out of it.

When the spacecraft entered its assigned orbit, Leonov began to prepare for the exit. Everything went according to plan, when the X-hour came, the astronaut gently pushed off and floated out of the airlock into outer space.

The most terrible predictions of skeptics did not come true, and the astronaut felt quite well. He completed the entire prescribed program, and it was time to return to the ship. There were some problems with this. The suit, swollen in weightlessness, did not allow Leonov to enter the airlock. Then he, without consulting anyone, independently lowered the pressure in the suit and rushed into the airlock head first, and not vice versa, as planned. The first manned spacewalk was completed, and Alexei Leonov forever inscribed his name in the history of astronautics.

Incident on the way down

"Voskhod-2" had many shortcomings, and after the successful completion of the flight program, an emergency occurred. When the exit airlock was fired, the solar-star orientation sensors were stuck. When the ship made its 16th orbit around the Earth, an order was received from the control center to descend. But the ship continued to fly, as if nothing had happened. When he went on the 17th revolution, it became clear that the automatic attitude control system did not work, and the crew had to switch to manual control. The flight, the main task of which was the exit of man into outer space, could end in disaster.

At the cost of incredible efforts, Belyaev and Leonov regained control of the ship, but they were still almost a minute late in shutting down the engines. As a result, the planned landing site was left far behind and the descender landed in the dense forests of Perm.

Rescue operation

The astronauts remained in the winter forest for two long days. True, one helicopter still tried to throw off their warm clothes, but missed, and the bundle was lost in the snowdrifts.

The helicopter could not land in deep snow among the trees, and the astronauts did not have the necessary equipment to cut down trees, or to fill the snow with water and make a makeshift ice landing site. In the end, the rescue team reached the frozen astronauts on foot and was able to get them out of the thicket.

Despite all the difficulties of preparation and unpleasant incidents during the flight, Belyaev and Leonov coped with their main task - they carried out a manned spacewalk. The date of this event became one of the most significant milestones in the history of Soviet cosmonautics.

The term "activity in open space" (eng. Extra-vehicular activity, EVA) is broader and also includes the concept of leaving the ship on the surface of the Moon, planet or other space object.

Historically, due to the difference in the design features of the first spacecraft, the Americans and Russians define the start of spacewalks in different ways. From the very beginning, Soviet spacecraft had a separate airlock compartment, which is why the start of spacewalk is considered the moment when the astronaut depressurizes the airlock and finds himself in a vacuum, and its completion is the moment the hatch is closed. Early American ships did not have an airlock, and the entire ship was depressurized during a spacewalk. Under these conditions, the moment when the astronaut's head protruded beyond the spacecraft was taken as the start of the spacewalk, even if his body still continued to be inside the compartment (the so-called eng. Stand-up extra-vehicular activity, SEVA). Modern American yardstick takes the suit switch to self-powered as the start and the start of pressurization as the end of the EVA.

Spacewalks can be performed in different ways. In the first case, the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft with a special safety line, sometimes combined with an oxygen supply hose (in this case it is called the “umbilical cord”), while simply the astronaut’s muscular efforts are enough to return to the spacecraft. Another option is a fully autonomous flight in outer space. In this case, it is necessary to ensure the possibility of returning to the spacecraft with the help of a special technical system (See Installation for moving and maneuvering astronaut).

Encyclopedic YouTube

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Historical facts

• The longest spacewalk was the American Susan Helms on March 11, lasting 8 hours and 56 minutes.
• The record for the number of exits (16) and for the total duration of stay (82 hours 22 minutes) in open space belongs to the Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov.
• The first spacewalk in interplanetary space was performed by American astronaut Alfred Warden, a member of the crew of the Apollo 15 lunar expedition. Warden went into outer space to transfer the captured photographic films of the mapping and panoramic cameras from the service module to the command module.

The dangers of spacewalks

A potential danger is the possibility of loss or unacceptable removal from the spacecraft, threatening death due to the depletion of the supply of breathing mixture. Possible damage or punctures of spacesuits are also dangerous, the depressurization of which threatens with anoxia and quick death if the astronauts do not have time to return to the ship in time. The spacesuit damage incident occurred only once, when during the flight of Atlantis STS-37, a small rod pierced the glove of one of the astronauts. Luckily, depressurization did not occur, because the rod got stuck and blocked the hole that had formed. The puncture was not even noticed until the astronauts returned to the ship and began checking the suits.

It is significant that the very first rather dangerous incident happened already during the first spacewalk of an astronaut. Having completed the first exit program, Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov experienced difficulties returning to the ship, since the swollen spacesuit did not pass through the Voskhod airlock. Only the release of the oxygen pressure in the spacesuit made it possible then to complete the flight safely.

Another potentially dangerous event occurred during the second spacewalk of the astronauts of the Discovery spacecraft (flight STS-121). A special winch detached from Piers Sellers' spacesuit, which helps to return to the station and prevents the astronaut from flying into outer space. Noticing the problem in time, Sellers and his partner were able to attach the device back, and the exit was completed safely.

While there are currently no known accidents associated with spacewalks, spacecraft developers are trying to reduce the need for extravehicular activity. The elimination of such a need, for example, when performing assembly work in space, can be helped by the development of special remote-controlled

The first person to go into space was twice Hero of the USSR Alexei Leonov. He was a little over 12 minutes out of the ship. There are feats that humanity has the right to be proud of, and this one is one of them.

"Voskhod-2" - a step into history

Back in 1963, the designer Korolev admitted the possibility and understood the need for such an experiment, and from the next year preparations for it began to be carried out. First of all, it was necessary to change the design of the ship itself.

Taking Voskhod-1 as a basis, it was decided to replace one porthole with an inflatable airlock, which should be located on the outside of the ship, and reduce the crew to two people. Thus, the Voskhod-2 spacecraft was born, which was used by the first man in outer space.

The crew of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft

It was not immediately decided on whom to entrust this responsible mission. Multiple psychological compatibility tests were carried out. After all, the crew must act as a single mechanism.

Belyaev is self-possessed and cool-headed and could quickly make decisions in non-standard situations. Leonov, his complete opposite, is hot and impetuous, but very brave and courageous. These two such different people made an excellent tandem for the experiment.

For 3 months, the cosmonauts got acquainted with the structure of the new spacecraft.

Then came exhausting training in weightlessness. In addition, I had to run 5 km daily and go swimming.

EVA Suit

For the crew of "Voskhod-2" they developed a completely new spacesuit with the sonorous name "Berkut". It was equipped with an additional sealed layer. The upper was made from several layers of metallized material.

Its mass increased due to the backpack, which was worn on the back and was equipped with a ventilation system with two cylinders with a capacity of 2 liters for oxygen. To better reflect the sun's rays, the designers changed its color from orange to white.

The total weight of this suit was about 100 kg.

Shortly before the flight, the astronauts trained in spacesuits. A small supply of air led to the fact that at the slightest effort a person was covered with sweat from tension. In addition, they were bulky and uncomfortable.

But this did not stop our astronauts. They decided at all costs to make the first manned spacewalk a reality.

Launch of the first flight into space

Then, at the dawn of the birth of astronautics, no one knew what awaited a man who went into outer space. At that time, no rescue systems had yet been created. 1965 could be the year of the greatest collapse of the Soviet space program.

And now, after three years of preparation, on March 18, 1965, Voskhod-2 successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

After the ship entered orbit and made its first orbit, Leonov began to prepare.