In our country and around the world, the name of cosmonaut Leonov is well known. Alexei Leonov was the first in outer space to shoot a video, leaving the spaceship. In our article we will tell you how it was and why he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for completing such a seemingly simple task. We will also explain why Sergey Korolev chose him for this mission. The biography of Alexei Leonov is the fate of an ordinary Soviet person from the simplest family.
Childhood
Alexey Leonov was born in 1934 in the Siberian village of Listvyanka, which is located in the Kemerovo region. A large family, in which he was the eighth child, was engaged in peasant labor. Father, an electrician-railroad engineer from Donbass, after the end of the civil war, moved to Siberia to his father, the grandfather of the future cosmonaut, and began to work as a livestock specialist. Mother settled in these places before. Alexei Leonov’s grandfather was exiled to these places for participating in the revolutionary events of 1905.
The father of the future astronaut, Arkhip Leonov, an intelligent man and a big worker, gained respect among his fellow villagers and was elected by them the chairman of the village council. The wave of repression did not go around this family. Father in 1936 was repressed, but in 1939 they were restored to their rights and fully acquitted.
Little is known about Alexey’s parental family and childhood. Let's hope that he leaves behind a detailed book of memoirs.
In 1938, Alexei's mother moved to Kemerovo. There, when he grew up, he went to school. The first grader was nine years old.
In 1948, the family moved to a permanent place of residence in the new, western region of the Soviet Union. Kaliningrad became the hometown of Alexei Arkhipovich. His relatives live there today. In one of the squares in the central part of the city there is a monument in honor of space explorers. From it originates a street bearing the name of cosmonaut Leonov.
Profession - Fighter Pilot
Interest in flying business with Alexei Leonov did not arise by chance. His older brother, Peter Arkhipovich, was a toolmaker, an excellent specialist in his field. He willingly shared his knowledge with Alyosha.
In addition to technology, Alexey Arkhipovich was fond of sports. He was engaged in fencing, cycling, javelin and track and field athletics. Has discharges. His interest in painting developed into a great talent.
Kaliningraders, personally acquainted with Alexei Arkhipovich, recall that he was a great guy - companionable, athletic, funny and kind.
Alexey Leonov received his first flight education in Kremenchug, in a flight school. Then he studied at the Chuguev Higher School of fighter pilots, after which, at the end of the fifties, he flew military aircraft.
The first squad of astronauts
Sergey Korolev very carefully selected candidates for space flights. In the track record of Alexei Leonov, in addition to excellent performance from the duty station and excellent sports training, there was also the landing of the MIG-15bis fighter in extreme conditions with a stalled engine. In the early sixties, he was admitted to the first, Gagarin, cosmonaut detachment, consisting of twenty people.
Alexei Leonov was perfectly prepared for the spacewalk. In addition to him, the cosmonaut corps included other equally worthy candidates. This is Valery Bykovsky, and Pavel Popovich, and Victor Gorbatko, and Vladimir Komarov, and Ivan Anikeev, and others. There are a total of 20 people. Technically, each of them could cope with any simulated situation. S.P. Korolev opted for Alexei Arkhipovich as a person who can most accurately describe the impression of outer space. And I was not mistaken.
Despite the fact that the preparation for spacewalk was repeatedly and thoroughly worked out on the ground, it turned out to be impossible to foresee everything.
Training took place in special chambers, where weightlessness was simulated. In accordance with the indicators of individual anatomy, as well as taking into account the air pressure inside the spacesuit and the expected external conditions, the spacesuits were designed separately for each astronaut.
It was not possible to accurately simulate all the conditions of an environment unusual for the inhabitants of the Earth in laboratory conditions. For this reason, the first astronauts were at great risk.
The truth about flight is a taboo for citizens of the USSR
Leonov’s exit into outer space can be seen in the documentary, which includes fragments shot by him on the camera. The picture painted by himself looks very impressive. This is an exact image of the ship, and nearby, in a spacesuit, Alexei Leonov. A photograph of the painting is presented in this article. I must say that in Soviet times, only a select few could see this painting. The small size of the ship compared with its two passengers does not look just impressive. They make us look at the pioneers of space as people of great courage.
The details of this event in Soviet times were classified. The population of the country should not have known about the miscalculations or mistakes of domestic science and the imperfection of technology.
The picture, which depicts Alexei Leonov, the first man in space who is in free flight, is clearly visible: the dimensions of the ship are so small that two people can hardly fit in it. There is no free space. Yes, it, based on the tasks assigned to the astronauts and the time that they were in flight, was not necessary.
First flight, photography
In 1965, the Soviet spacecraft Voskhod-2 flew around the Earth. The main goal was to test the capabilities of man and the devices created on the ground to perform work in an airless environment. The crew of the ship is Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov.
Three years of preflight training and only 1 day, 2 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds of flight, and time in open space - 23 minutes and 41 seconds. The spacewalk of Alexei Leonov was accompanied by a distance of 5.35 meters from the ship. It lasted 12 minutes and 9 seconds. The astronaut was connected to the ship by a cable equipped with hooks and loops. Re-hooking helped to approach or move away from the spacecraft to the desired distance.
The main task that Alexei Leonov was supposed to perform in space was photographing with a video camera and a microphoto camera. The video turned out perfectly as much as possible with the prior art. But it was not possible to take photographs from a micro-camera placed in a tiny button-sized hole of a spacesuit. Due to the deformation of the suit, the astronaut could not pick up the cable, which served as the button of the camera, and the pneumatic bulb that was put on its end came off during the exit from the airlock. She hooked on the manhole cover.
Surprise with a spacesuit
The suit of Alexey was not quite perfect. He was tested at the maximum possible difference between external and internal pressures, which can be simulated on Earth. She was too far from what is happening in space. The pressure inside the suit is 600 mm Hg. column, outside - 9 mm. As a result, he was swollen. Could not stand stiffening ribs and belts. Legs and hands stopped reaching the end of the sleeves and trousers. The suit became an uncontrollable capsule in which a helpless person is enclosed. Pavel Belyaev, the commander of the ship, saw what was happening with Leonov’s costume, but could not help. Aleksei Arkhipovich estimated that for about an hour he was breathing pure oxygen and the nitrogen that is present in the breathing mixture on the ship should have been washed out of the blood by this time. He decided to relieve pressure inside the suit. This is forbidden by the instruction, but he did not see another way. If nitrogen remained in the blood, it would boil, which meant death. There was no nitrogen, and Alexey Arkhipovich, clinging and unfastening the hooks of the cable, reached the hatch.
Acrobatics in the airlock
The size of the airlock hatch was smaller than that required for the dimensions of the astronaut, whose shoulder width in space uniforms was 68 cm. Since the hatch opens inward and the diameter of the airlock is 1 m, you cannot turn around in it. In order for Alexey Arkhipovich to fit into it and hermetically shut the hatches, it was necessary either to reduce the size of the manhole cover or to reduce the lodgement. It was not possible to simply increase the size of the ship. For maintaining the internal size of the gateway was Alexei Leonov himself. Going into space and returning to the ship, the most rational sequence of actions were carefully verified and worked out many times on simulators. But study, study, and reality did not stint surprises.
The astronaut entered the hatch not with his feet, as suggested by a more ergonomic one, but with his head. To bulldoze the hatch, it was necessary to turn the body 180 degrees. The task, taking into account the size of the astronaut and the tightness of the gateway, is architrude. Aleksei Arkhipovich later recalled that his pulse rate at the end of this acrobatics was 200 beats per minute, and sweat filled his eyes with a continuous stream. Now it was necessary to separate the gateway, and you can return home to Earth. But it turned out that it was too early to calm down.
After separating the airlock, the ship began to rotate around its axis, and the pressure inside began to increase. The astronauts could only look at the instruments. It was impossible to stop the process. They minimized the temperature and humidity on board. The pressure continued to rise. The smallest spark - and they, along with the ship, would burst into molecules. At some point, Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev disconnected - either lost consciousness, or fell asleep. Subsequently, when reading the instrument diagrams, it turned out that the pressure inside the ship, instead of the prescribed 160 atmospheres, reached the mark of 920 mm Hg, after which it began to decrease spontaneously.
The fact is that the ship, which was in a static position for about an hour, was deformed. The Sun heated one side to +150 degrees Celsius, while the other, which was in the shade, cooled down to -140 degrees. As a result, the ship was closed leaky. Automation has worked on the mode of compensating for oxygen leakage. In the end, the pressure became so high that the inside of the hatch pressed down. Sealing was restored, and the devices received an appropriate signal to relieve excess pressure. A jet of air from the outside of the ship gave it a rotational motion.
Stopping the rotation was, as they say, a matter of technology, that is, it is not difficult. Ahead was another task - landing.
Freelance landing
It is believed that takeoff and landing are the most complex processes in controlling a spacecraft. "Voskhod-2" sat in the manual control mode. Instead of the planned point near Kustanai, he plunged into one and a half meter snow of the deaf Ural taiga, 200 km from Perm. The history of the rescue of astronauts from taiga captivity deserves a separate chapter. Aleksei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev spent two nights wrapping themselves in the casing stripped from the inside of the ship, warming themselves around the fire, and Aleksey Arkhipovich did physical exercises, pulling himself on parachute slings caught on the tops of pine trees. They had food stock - lyophilized meat, chocolate, biscuits and cottage cheese with cherry juice.
After the astronauts were found, and this happened four hours after the landing (this was helped by the bright orange dome of a kilometer-long parachute, the flight of which was seen by residents of the nearest settlements), they were thrown off warm clothing and food, but the rescuers could not get to the pilots. To evacuate, it was necessary to arrange a place for landing a helicopter. A team of lumberjacks with chainsaws arrived and cleared a clearing.
Idol and faith
Alexei Leonov recalls that Sergey Pavlovich Korolev, the designer of Soviet spacecraft, the creator of the space industry in science and industry, a cynic, pessimist and skeptic, who perceived present and future life only in gloomy tones, was more than a father to astronauts. He was their god.
I must say that the Soviet spacecraft in terms of reliability and safety significantly exceeded the ships of competitors - the United States. Since the beginning of space exploration during training and flights, our country has lost five cosmonauts, while the Americans buried 17 astronauts. The reason for our tragedies is the so-called human factor. Technology has never failed.
Valentin Bondarenko died during tests of psychological stability in conditions of solitary existence. This happened at the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine as a result of a fire in the pressure chamber. Vladimir Komarov died during landing - the parachute did not open. George Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Victor Patsaev died from the depressurization of the ship during landing.
Failed flight
The second flight of Alexei Leonov was supposed to take place in June 1961. The crew consisted of three cosmonauts - Alexei Leonov, Valery Kubasov and Peter Kolodin. Shortly before the scheduled start day, the medical commission found in Valery a slight blackout in the lungs. It was decided to send a backup crew. For the first, it was a tragedy: Peter never flew into space, and for understudies - a lucky chance. The flight program was brilliantly executed. During entry into the atmosphere, disaster occurred. The astronauts mistakenly opened the sealing valve.
The ship made a soft landing in the planned area, but people could not be saved. These were Victor Patsaev, Vladislav Volkov and George Dobrovolsky.
Second flight
Alexei Leonov was in space twice. The first flight took place in March 1965. Alexei Leonov went out into outer space once. His assessment is that in space you can live and work.
The second time he visited there in July 1976. Work in orbit lasted for 5 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and 51 seconds. It was an international project. The goal is the docking of modules and scientific experiments. The Soviet Soyuz-19 with Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov and the American Apollo with three astronauts - Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton and Vance Brand flew into space.
The talent of the painter
Thanks to the artistic talent of the astronaut, all of humanity was able to find out what the world looks like outside the earth's atmosphere, because at that time images in space were obtained only in black and white. Space photography still poses certain difficulties. This is due to requirements, other than on Earth, for the resolution of optics, a peculiar propagation of light rays, and other refraction.
The uniqueness of the artist Alexei Leonov is that on his canvases, with engineering accuracy, he reproduced the technical features of space technology and the costume of an astronaut. And the sharp look of the painter determined what shades of the spectrum are present in space landscapes.
Alexey Arkhipovich participated in the creation of postage stamps on the theme of space. On each of them is the present and future of astronautics. They are very interesting to consider. Take a look at the photo. Alexei Leonov can be reckoned among realists who are able to foresee the future, because what he depicted was not yet in those years.
Life in the Earth
Alexey Arkhipovich flew twice into space. He was awarded two stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, orders of Lenin and Red Star, medals of our country and abroad, is an honorary citizen of thirty Russian and foreign cities.
One of the lunar craters bears his name, as well as the planet of the constellation Libra.
Alexei Leonov, major general of reserve aviation, devoted his whole life to space. He graduated from the Air Force Engineering Academy. N.E. Zhukovsky, including adjunct. Alexey Arkhipovich for a long time was engaged in the training of astronauts and the development of space equipment. He owns research in the field of vision perception of color and light characteristics after flying into space, the perception of space and time in space, the psychological problems of interplanetary flight, as well as other scientific and experimental works.
He is married, has a daughter and two grandchildren.
The beginning of the third millennium
Currently, cosmonaut Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov lives in Moscow. Last year, 2014, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin handed him the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class. Thus was marked the eightieth anniversary of the astronaut, who all his life worked hard and fruitfully for the good of his homeland. He will forever remain in our memory as a person who made a huge contribution to space exploration and science, and as an artist who showed people the world beyond the earth’s atmosphere. The personality, on the example of which the younger generation can and should be educated, is, of course, Alexei Leonov. His biography is incredibly interesting. About his cosmic epic can be read in the book of A. S. Eliseev "Life is a drop in the ocean." Several documentaries have also been shot about him.