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Alexei Leonov, First Human To Walk In Space, Dies At 85
Alexei Leonov, who in 1965 became the first person to ever walk in space, has died in Moscow aged 85.
Russian space agency, Roscosmos, made the announcement on its website on Friday.
“His name will forever remain in history”
“His greatest memorial will be our country’s future achievements in space travel, to which he dedicated his heroic life.”
US Space Agency, NASA, also took to its Twitter page on Friday to offer sympathy to Leonov’s family:
“His venture into the vacuum of space began the history of extravehicular activity that makes today’s Space Station maintenance possible,”
On March 18, 1965, the Soviet-era cosmonaut made history when he embarked on the first ever spacewalk. He spent 12 minutes and nine seconds outside the Voskhod-2 (Sunrise-2) capsule.
Leonov said in 2015 :
‘I gently pulled myself out and kicked off from the vessel,’
‘(There was) an inky black, stars everywhere and the sun so bright I could barely stand it,’
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On his second trip to space 10 years later, Leonov commanded the Soviet half of Apollo-Soyuz 19.
Alexei Leonov was born in Siberia. He was a fighter pilot before becoming a cosmonaut. He was a friend of Soviet Air Force pilot and cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, who became the first man in space in 1961.
Leonov was also an artist who brought colored pencils to space to sketch the view of Earth. His drawing of the sunrise is considered the first piece of art created in space.
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