The first spacewalker, R.I.P.

October 11, 2019 5:06 PM

"Stars were to my left, right, above and below me. The light of the sun was very intense..." In 1965 Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov (Алексе́й Архи́пович Лео́нов) was the first human being to walk in space.

After Voskhod 2 Leonov trained for Soviet moon missions that would never occur. Leonov also commanded the Soyuz module for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz meeting.

Leonov also: painted space scenes; co-wrote the screenplay for a science fiction movie; was nearly shot, when someone tried to assassinate Brezhnev.

One lunar crater is named Leonov. Arthur C. Clarke named a spaceship after him in 2010.

Spacewalk video; another; another. Alexeï Léonov, the Spacewalker (2011).

Tribute from the ISS. Roscosmos statement. NASA statement.

(previously)

posted by doctornemo (24 comments total)

He also co-authored, with NASA astronaut Dave Scott, Two Sides of the Moon, about their perspectives being on different sides of the space race.

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posted by lharmon at 5:20 PM on October 11, 2019 [4 favorites]

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posted by Quackles at 5:41 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by Fizz at 5:59 PM on October 11, 2019

A great song was made using clips from reports of Leonov’s spacewalk:
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - E.V.A.
posted by Harpocrates at 6:04 PM on October 11, 2019 [6 favorites]

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posted by mwhybark at 6:19 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by ZeusHumms at 6:59 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by zengargoyle at 7:01 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by SageLeVoid at 7:10 PM on October 11, 2019

Odd how the film of his EVA was so very different from all the others then and now. His was widely questioned as to the clarity, bubbles and may have been er...enhanced.
posted by Freedomboy at 7:37 PM on October 11, 2019

He was set to be the first man on the Moon, but the Soviet program didn't quite work out.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:51 PM on October 11, 2019

" Say not farewell, but fare forward." TS Eliot
posted by Oyéah at 8:22 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

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posted by LobsterMitten at 9:09 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by bryon at 9:17 PM on October 11, 2019

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posted by Cash4Lead at 9:43 PM on October 11, 2019

Someone always has to go out first, but getting back in might be the riskiest part. Браво Alexei!

In the Popular Mechanics article, 10 of the Most Dangerous Space Walks Ever Done, Leonov’s spacewalk is #9.
posted by cenoxo at 10:07 PM on October 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

An amazing life.

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posted by BlueHorse at 7:28 AM on October 12, 2019

I got goosebumps when I saw the Sunrise by Alexei Leonov. It's something very profound filtered through something very familiar, an orbital sunrise with its brilliant while curved horizon and that tenuous flash of green, as rendered in the scribbled coloured pencils that you've probably made yourself a hundred times as a child. It brings a little bit of the wonder of space down to earth.

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posted by Eleven at 7:48 AM on October 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

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posted by lalochezia at 8:44 AM on October 12, 2019

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posted by Splunge at 9:37 AM on October 12, 2019

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 10:42 AM on October 12, 2019

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posted by filtergik at 11:22 AM on October 12, 2019

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posted by clavdivs at 11:55 AM on October 12, 2019

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posted by Gelatin at 6:19 AM on October 13, 2019

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posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:35 PM on October 13, 2019