Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov: biography (photo)

In our country and throughout the world the name is well knowncosmonaut Leonov. Alexei Leonov was the first in the open space to make a video, leaving the spaceship. In this article we will tell you how it was and why he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for accomplishing such a seemingly simple task. Also we will tell, why for this mission Sergey Korolev chose it. The biography of Alexei Leonov is the fate of an ordinary Soviet person from the simplest family.

Childhood

Alexei Leonov was born in 1934 in the Siberianvillage Listvyanka, which is located in the Kemerovo region. A large family, in which he was the eighth child, was engaged in peasant labor. Father, electrician railroadman 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 his participation in the revolutionary events of 1905.

Father of the future cosmonaut, Arkhip Leonov, clevera man and a big hard worker, earned respect among his fellow villagers and was elected by them as chairman of the village council. The wave of repression did not bypass this family. His father was repressed in 1936, but in 1939 he was restored to rights and fully justified.

Little is known about his parents' family and childhood. Let's hope that he leaves behind a detailed book of memories.

In 1938, Alexei's mother moved to Kemerovo. In the same place, when he grew up, he went to school. The first-year student was nine years old.

In 1948 the family moved to a permanent placeresidence in the new, western region of the Soviet Union. Kaliningrad became a native city for Alexei Arkhipovich. His relatives live there today. In one of the public gardens in the central part of the city there is a monument in honor of the conquerors of space. From it takes the beginning of the street, bearing the name of cosmonaut Leonov.

Profession: fighter pilot

Interest in the flight business of Alexei Leonovnot by chance. His elder brother, Pyotr Arkhipovich, was a fitter-toolmaker, an excellent specialist in his field. He willingly shared his knowledge with Alesha.

In addition to technology, Alexey Arkhipovich was fond of sports. He was engaged in fencing, cycling, throwing a spear and light athletics. Has discharges. His interest in painting developed into a great talent.

Kaliningraders, personally acquainted with Alexei Arkhipovich, recall that he was an excellent guy - sociable, sporting, cheerful and kind.

The first flight education Alexei Leonov receivedin Kremenchuk, in the flight school. Then he studied at the Chuguev Higher School of Fighter Pilots, after which, in the late fifties, he flew on combat aircraft.

The first cosmonaut detachment

Sergey Korolev very carefully selected candidatesfor flights into space. 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 a MiG-15bis fighter aircraft in extreme conditions with a stalled engine. In the early sixties, he was admitted to the first, Gagarin, cosmonaut detachment, consisting of twenty men.

To the spacewalk Alexey Leonov wasprepared perfectly. In addition to him, the detachment of cosmonauts included other, equally worthy candidates. These are Valery Bykovsky, Pavel Popovich, Victor Gorbatko, Vladimir Komarov, Ivan Anikeev, and others. There are 20 people in all. Technically, each of them could cope with any simulated situation. SP Korolev stopped the choice of Alexei Arkhipovich as a man 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 studied on the ground, it was impossible to foresee everything.

Training took place in special cells, whereweightlessness was imitated. In accordance with the indicators of individual anatomy, as well as taking into account the air pressure inside the spacesuit and the assumed external conditions, the spacesuits were designed separately for each cosmonaut.

It was not possible to accurately simulate all the conditions unusual for the inhabitants of the Earth in the laboratory. For this reason, the first cosmonauts were at great risk.

The truth about flying is taboo for citizens of the USSR

Leonov's exit into outer space can be seen inA documentary film, which includes fragments, shot by him on the camera. Very impressive is the picture he wrote himself. This is the exact image of the ship, and next to it, in a spacesuit, Alexei Leonov. Photo of the picture is presented in this article. It must be said that only the elite could see this canvas in Soviet times. The small dimensions of the ship in comparison with its two passengers look not just spectacular. They make us look at the pioneers of the cosmos as people of great courage.

The details of this event were classified in the Soviet era. The population of the country should not have known about the miscalculations or mistakes of the domestic science and the imperfection of technology.

In the picture, where Alexei Leonov is depicted, the firstin space, a person in free flight is clearly seen: the dimensions of the ship are so small that two people can hardly fit in it. There is no free space. Yes, it was, and based on the tasks assigned to the astronauts and the time that they were in flight, it was not necessary.

First flight, photography

In 1965, the Soviet spacecraft"Sunrise-2" flew around the Earth. The main purpose was to test the capabilities of man and the instruments created on the ground to perform work in an airless space. The crew of the ship - Pavel Belyaev and Alexei Leonov.

Three years of pre-flight 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. Rebidding hooks helped to approach or move away from the spacecraft at the right distance.

The main task that was to be performedAlexey Leonov in space, is a photographing on a video camera and on a microphotograph. Video turned out perfectly as much as it was possible at the then level of technology. But it was not possible to take photos from a microphotograph placed in a tiny, size-of-a-button, hole in the space suit. Because of the deformation of the suit, the astronaut could not take in his hand the cable that carried out the function of the button of the camera, and the pneumatic pear, which was put on its end, came off during the exit from the lock. She clung to the hatch.

Unexpectedness with a spacesuit

The suit was not completely perfect. He was tested at the greatest possible difference in external and internal pressures, which can be imitated on Earth. It was too far from what takes place in the conditions of outer space. The pressure inside the suit is 600 mm Hg. pillar, outside - 9 mm. As a result, he swelled. The ribs of the stiffness and the straps could not stand. Legs and arms stopped reaching the end of the sleeves and pants. The suit became an uncontrollable capsule, in which a helpless man is imprisoned. Pavel Belyaev, the commander of the ship, saw what was happening with Leonov's costume, but could not help. Alexei Arkhipovich estimated that for about an hour he was breathing pure oxygen and nitrogen, which is present in the respiratory mixture on the ship, by this time should be washed out of the blood. He decided to squeeze the pressure inside the suit. This is prohibited by the instruction, but he did not see any other way out. If nitrogen remained in the blood, it would have boiled, which meant death. Nitrogen was not, and Alexei Arkhipovich, snagging and unfastening the hooks of the cable, reached the hatchway.

Acrobatics in the sluice compartment

The size of the hatch of the airlock was less thanIt was required for dimensions of the cosmonaut, whose shoulder width in outer clothing is 68 cm. As the hatch opens inwards, and the diameter of the lock is 1 m, it is impossible to turn around in it. To Alexei Arkhipovich fit into it and tightly closed the hatches, you had to either reduce the size of the hatch cover, or reduce the lodgement. Just increase the size of the ship was not possible. For the preservation of the internal size of the lock was Alexei Leonov himself. Exit to space and return to the ship, the most rational sequence of actions was carefully verified and repeatedly practiced on the simulators. But study studies, and reality is not stingy for surprises.

The astronaut entered the hatch not with his feet, as suggestedmore ergonomic, and head. To close the hatch, it was required to deploy the body 180 degrees. The task taking into account the size of the cosmonaut and the tightness of the gateway is arhitrudnaya. Alexei Arkhipovich later recalled that the pulse rate at the end of this acrobatics was 200 beats per minute, and sweat filled his eyes with a continuous stream. Now the gateway should be separated, and you can return home to Earth. But it turned out that it was too early to calm down.

After the separation of the airlock, the ship beganRotate around its axis, and the pressure inside began to grow. 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 grow. The slightest spark - and they, together with the ship, would rupture into molecules. At some point, Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev disconnected - either lost consciousness, or fell asleep. Subsequently, when reading the instrument diagrams, it became clear that the pressure inside the ship instead of the required 160 atmospheres reached the mark of 920 mm Hg, after which it began to decrease spontaneously.

The fact is that the ship, which was about an hourin a static position, deformed. One side of it to +150 degrees Celsius warmed the Sun, and the other, which was in the shade, cooled to -140 degrees. As a result, the ship was closed unsealed. Automation has worked on the mode of oxygen leakage compensation. In the end, the pressure became so high that the inside of the hatch was crushed from the inside. The sealing was restored, and the instruments received the appropriate signal to bleed excess pressure. A jet of air from the outside of the ship gave him a rotational movement.

To stop the rotation was, as they say, a matter of technology, that is simple. Ahead was still another task - landing.

Freelance landing

It is believed that take-off and landing are the most difficultprocesses in the management of a spacecraft. "Voskhod-2" sat in the mode of manual control. Instead of the planned point near Kustanai, he plunged into a 1.5-meter snow of the deaf of the Ural taiga, 200 km from Perm. The history of the rescue of cosmonauts from taiga captivity deserves a separate chapter. Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev spent two nights wrapping themselves in the skins torn from the inner surface of the ship, warmed by the fire, and Alexei Arkhipovich was doing physical exercises, pulling himself up on the lines of the parachute, caught on top of the pines. The food stock they had - lyophilized meat, chocolate, biscuits and cottage cheese with cherry juice.

After the astronauts were found, and this happenedfour hours after landing (this was helped by the bright orange dome of a kilometer parachute, the flight of which was seen by the inhabitants of the nearest settlements), they were dropped warm clothes and food, but the rescuers could not get to the pilots. For evacuation it was necessary to organize a place for landing of the helicopter. A team of loggers with chainsaws arrived and cleared a clearing.

Idol and faith

Alexei Leonov remembers that Sergei PavlovichKorolev, the designer of Soviet spacecraft, the creator of the space industry in science and industry, a cynic, a pessimist and a skeptic who perceived life as real and future only in gloomy colors, was more to the cosmonauts than his father. He was their god.

I must say that Soviet spacecraftfrom the point of view of reliability and safety were much superior to the ships of competitors - the United States. Since the beginning of space exploration during training and flight, our country lost five astronauts, while the Americans buried 17 astronauts. The reason for our tragedies is the so-called human factor. Technique did not fail even once.

Valentin Bondarenko was killed during thepsychological 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 was killed when landing - did not open the parachute. Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev died from the depressurization of the ship during the landing.

Failed flight

The second flight of Alexei Leonov waswill be held in June 1961. The crew consisted of three cosmonauts - Alexey Leonov, Valery Kubasov and Peter Kolodin. Shortly before the scheduled start day, the medical commission discovered a slight blackout in Valery. It was decided to send a backup crew. For the first, it was a tragedy: Peter never flew into space, but for backups - a lucky chance. The flight program was brilliantly executed. During the entry into the atmosphere, a 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. They were Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov and Georgy Dobrovolsky.

Second flight

Alexei Leonov in space was twice. The first flight took place in March 1965. In the open space, Alexei Leonov went out once. His assessment - 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 docking modules and scientific experiments. In space, the Soviet Union-19 flew with Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov and the American Apollo with three astronauts - Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton and Vance Brand.

Talent of the painter

Thanks to the artistic talent of the cosmonaut, allmankind was able to find out what the world looks like outside the terrestrial atmosphere, because at that time the images in space turned out only in black and white. Until now, space photography presents certain difficulties. This is due to the requirements to the resolution of optics, other than on the Earth, a kind of spreading of light rays, other refraction.

The uniqueness of the artist Alexei Leonov is thathe on his canvases with engineering accuracy reproduced the technical features of space technology and cosmonaut's costume. A sharp look of the painter determined what shades of the spectrum are present in the cosmic landscapes.

Alexey Arkhipovich participated in the creation of postalmarks on a theme of space. On each of them - the present and future of space exploration. They are very interesting to consider. Take a look at the photo. Alexei Leonov can be considered a realist, able to foresee the future, because of what he portrayed, those years were not yet.

Life in the Earth

Alexei Arkhipovich flew twice in space. He is awarded two stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the 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 Aviation Reserve, allhis life dedicated to the cosmos. He graduated from the Air Force Engineering Academy. N. Ye. Zhukovsky, including adjuncture. Alexey Arkhipovich for a long time was engaged in the training of cosmonauts and the development of space equipment. He belongs to research in the field of perception of color and light characteristics after the flight to space, perception of space and time in space conditions, psychological problems of interplanetary flight, as well as other scientific and experimental work.

He is married, has a daughter and two grandchildren.

The beginning of the third

At present cosmonaut Alexei LeonovArkhipovich lives in Moscow. In the past, in 2014, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, awarded him the Order of Merit for the Fatherland of the third degree. This is how the eightieth anniversary of the cosmonaut was celebrated, who spent a lot of his life and worked fruitfully for the good of his Motherland. He will forever remain in our memory as a man who made a huge contribution to the exploration of space and science, and as an artist who showed the world a world beyond the earth's atmosphere. Personality, the example of which can and should be brought up by the younger generation, is, of course, Alexei Leonov. His biography is incredibly interesting. About his space epic can be read in the book by A. S. Eliseev "Life is a drop in the ocean." About him, several documentaries have also been filmed.