Legendary Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov who was the first person to walk in space has been buried at a memorial cemetery outside the Russian capital of Moscow on October 14. As per reports, hundreds of well-wishers and other celebrated astronauts visited his funeral on the day. Russian space agency Roscosmos announced the news on October 11 about the legend who passed away at 85. On March 18, 1965, he marked his place in space history by exiting his Voskhod 2 capsule secured by a tether. In 1975, he became the commander of the Soviet section at the Apollo-Soyuz flight, the first joint Soviet-US space mission.

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Tom Stafford, commander of the US section in the Apollo-Soyuz mission, was one of the men to pay his last respects to Leonov, calling him a "colleague and friend."

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NASA pays tribute to Alexei Leonov

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) broke into its live televised coverage of a spacewalk by two Americans outside the International Space Station following his demise. Mission Control in Houston said: “A tribute to Leonov as today is a spacewalk”. The space agency also offered its sympathy for Leonov's family on Friday. In their tweet, NASA said that Leonov's venture into the vacuum of space began the history of extravehicular activity that makes today’s Space Station maintenance possible.

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Peskov conveyed Putin's condolences on Leonov's death

Press Secretary for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov on Friday also conveyed the Russian president’s condolences. Peskov said that the President and Leonov each other very well and often saw each other. The Kremlin spokesperson spoke to Leonov's family saying that Putin always admired Leonov’s courage and thought he was an extraordinary man. Thousands of tributes and condolences came in from across the world.

(With inputs from Associated Press)

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