Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, passes away

12 Oct 2019

Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, passes away

Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, passes awayAlexei Leonov, the legendary Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) who became the first human to walk in space 54 years ago passed away yesterday. He was 85 years old.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos made the announcement on its website on Friday. NASA also interrupted its live televised coverage of a spacewalk to report Mr Leonov’s death.

On 18 March 1965, Mr Leonov made history when he left a spacecraft during the Voskhod 2 mission for a spacewalk. It lasted 12 minutes and nine seconds. It preceded the first US spacewalk, by less than three months.

"(There was) an inky black, stars everywhere and the sun so bright I could barely stand it," Mr Leonov said in an interview in 2015.

Mr Leonov, also known as Cosmonaut No. 11 by Roscosmos was an icon both in his country as well as in the US.
 	Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sent his condolences to Mr Leonov’s family.
 	NASA, as well as former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, expressed their condolences.

Alexei Leonov

Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov was born in 1934 in western Siberia, Russia.
 	His second mission to space was the Apollo-Soyuz 19 mission in 1975. It was the first joint mission between the Soviet Union (Russia) and the United States.
 	Mr Leonov was well known for his humour and well-liked by many Russian cosmonauts. He was also a talented artist.
 	He was a frequent guest at send-off ceremonies for Russian space crews. For his 85th birthday in May this year, cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station sent their wishes via video.

Mr Leonov will be buried on Tuesday at a military memorial cemetery outside Moscow.

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Alexei Leonov, the legendary Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut) who became the first human to walk in space 54 years ago passed away yesterday. He was 85 […]

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