Moscow, we have a problem
October 13, 2014 3:17 PM   Subscribe

The First Spacewalk. How the first human to take steps in outer space nearly didn't return to Earth.
posted by gottabefunky (13 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
During a mission debrief, Leonov had to explain why he had broken protocol by venting his air into space without telling ground control.

He responded: “What would you have done if I’d told you? You would have created a commission. The commission would have selected a chairman, and the chairman would talk to me.


I like this man.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 3:47 PM on October 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


"As it got dark, the cosmonauts realised they would have to wring the moisture out of their suits to avoid frostbite. Leonov had perspired so much on the spacewalk that his sweat was now sloshing around in the suit, up to his knees. There was no way to cover the hatch opening, so they would have to cope as best they could as temperatures dropped to -25C.
Badass!
posted by Fizz at 3:52 PM on October 13, 2014


It's a good thing this was completed in mostly-secret by tough-ass Russians otherwise the rest of us never would have kept going with it.
posted by bleep at 4:01 PM on October 13, 2014


In the immortal words of John Shaft, "That is one bad motherfucker."

I like the civilian aircraft all trying to help including dropping a bottle of Cognac (although it broke on impact).
posted by 724A at 4:54 PM on October 13, 2014


Badass!

Alexei Leonov is absolutely a bad ass. His life story is told in Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race, co-written with American astronaut David Scott and he's lived an amazing life. Born to Russian peasants, didn't get his first pair of shoes until he was about 10 etc, etc, but he aways had a optimistic outlook and managed to rise through the ranks in the military and become a cosmonaut.

How badass is he? If the Russians had been the first around the Moon, he would have been the Commander of the mission. As it was, they Russians could have been first, but their spacecraft needed to two successful unmanned flights before a crew would be allowed in it, but only one had occurred. Leonov didn't care, he was willing to risk it, but got overruled by higher ups (think of that when you hear talk of the heartless Soviets).

If the Russians had landed on the Moon first, he would have been first person on the Moon. He was also scheduled to command the first mission to Salyut 1, the first space station, but his crew was pulled due to one of them being sick. Someone should make a movie about his life, especially since he's also an artist.

It's not surprising Leonov had problems on that first spacewalk, there were a lot of problems getting the techniques right, it's a wonder no one died in those early years. Eugene Cernan on Gemini 9 probably came the closest. He was scheduled for an ambitious 2 hour spacewalk to test a "space backpack" called the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU). It didn't go well at all. With no handholds or liquid cooled underwear, he severely overheated and got quickly exhausted, sweated off something like 10 lbs as he struggled around outside for a few minutes before the EVA was called off.

Hats off to Leonov for leading the way.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:06 PM on October 13, 2014 [17 favorites]


So much to say, not saying it on the phone. But yes, Leonov has право мастерство.
posted by eriko at 5:12 PM on October 13, 2014


Cognac and cosmonauts are old friends. And there are tales of various bottles hidden around Mir by engineers during construction, with the location radioed up when mission control thought the inhabitants deserved/needed a bit of a boost.
posted by Devonian at 5:13 PM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


I like the civilian aircraft all trying to help including dropping a bottle of Cognac (although it broke on impact).

Comrades, our brave cosmonauts are stranded deep in Siberian wilderness. They need your help. You must act quickly before one of them sobers up!
posted by The Tensor at 5:15 PM on October 13, 2014


These are the folks that will survive the first Martian winter!
posted by sammyo at 5:23 PM on October 13, 2014


The US program often seemed powered by tinfoil and bailing wire solutions strung together by courage and sheer stubborn willpower ... But the Russians make the Americans seem like Swiss Actuaries by comparison.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:41 PM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Holy crap! After being the first person to walk in space, he spent the night in the Siberian wilderness and skied out the next day. Talk about winning the propaganda war, the Soviets blew it by not telling this story to the world.

So glad to read about this.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:04 PM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


You know all those "if you could talk to one person in history" chat bait type questions you see on facebook, etc.? I think Sergei Korolev is my official answer from now on.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 9:50 PM on October 13, 2014


“If there are some people who think that what we did was primitive, not very interesting, not worthwhile - let them fly into space, go for a spacewalk and experience the air leaking from your suit, or a safety hatch refusing to shut,” says cosmonaut Georgy Grechko.

“Then they will understand that our pride and happiness is deserved.”


QFMFT
posted by Splunge at 11:06 AM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]


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