Visiting the Void: Alexei Leonov's Historic Spacewalk and First Human Photo in Space

New Delhi: 60 years ago, space exploration marked a historic milestone when first photograph of a human in space was taken during Alexei Leonov's historic spacewalk on March 18, 1965, as part of the Voskhod 2 mission. Leonov was the first human to perform an extravehicular activity (EVA).

On March 18, 1965, Soviet astronaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave a space capsule and float freely in orbit, tethered during his historic spacewalk.

First Spacewalk in 1965

As the pilot of the Voskhod 2 mission, Leonov was part of the Soviet Union's race with the US to reach the moon. His spacewalk on March 18, 1965, faced significant challenges.

He was outside the craft for only little more than 12 minutes, his suit ballooned when no longer constrained by his spacecraft’s internal atmosphere and he could not re-enter the airlock. Bleeding the suit beyond its safety limits to make it more flexible, Leonov suffered the bends from decompression.

He later recalled sweating so much that the sweat sloshed inside his suit. The re-entry flight also faced its own set of challenges.

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It was a groundbreaking achievement, leaving the US once again playing catch-up in the early days of the space race. However, less than three months later, US astronaut Ed White also ventured into space.

Tragically, White would later become one of the first casualties of the space race. He died in 1967 during the Apollo 1 mission, a fatal launch-pad fire that claimed the lives of all three crew members on NASA's first crewed mission to the moon.