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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0852.PDF
468 FLIGHT International, 25 March 1965 Spaceflight Col Pavel Belyayev, commander it-Col Alexei Leonov, co-pilot "A MAN LEFT HIS SPACESHIP..." THE flight of Voskhod 2 on March 18-19 marked the firstoccasion on which a crew-member has left his spacecraftwhile in orbit. But the dramatic impact of this achieve- ment (writes Kenneth Owen) could hardly conceal the evidence that, for once, a Soviet space flight was patently not completed "in accordance with the planned programme." Apparently planned to make anticlimax out of the American two-man, three-orbit Gemini flight scheduled for March 23, the 18-orbit flight by Col Pavel Belyayev and Lt-Col Alexei Leonov was reported in its early stages to be going well, with the striking news and telerecorded pictures of Leonov's tethered departure from and return to the spacecraft being promptly transmitted soon after the event took place on the second orbit. But the landing announcement was not made until almost five hours after the landing took place—some nine hours after the last previous report on the progress of the flight. Shortly after 8 a.m. GMT on March 18 the first news of the launching was given in the following Tass communique: "At 10 a.m. Moscow time on March 18 a powerful Soviet carrier rocket placed into orbit the spaceship Voskhod 2, manned by a crew of two composed of Pilot-Cosmonaut Col Pavel Belyayev (commander) and Pilot-Cosmonaut Lt-Col Alexei Leonov (co-pilot). The orbit of the spaceship is close to that prescribed. "According to preliminary data the spaceship is orbiting the Earth once every 90.9min; its minimum distance from the Earth, perigee, and its maximum, apogee, are 173km and 495km respec- tively; and the inclination is about 65°. Two-way radio communication is being constantly maintained with the space- ship. "A report by the ship's commander, Pavel Belyayev, and tele- metric data show that the crew satisfactorily withstood the orbiting and the transition to weightlessness. The crew is working ia accordance with their programme of observations and feel well. "Information from the spaceship is being sent on frequencies of 143.625, 77.365 and 18.035Mc/s. The craft also carries a Signal transmitter operating on a frequency of 19.996Mc/s. All equipment aboard the spcecraft is functioning normally. Further reports about the progress of the flight will be broadcast by all Soviet radio stations." Later that morning the following Tass announcement was made: "At 11.30 a.m. Moscow time today, during the flight of the space- ship Voskhod 2, a man left his spaceship in flight for the first time. On the second circuit around the Earth, co-pilot Lt-Col Alexei Leonov, dressed in a special spacesuit with an autonomous life- support system, stepped out into space, moved away from the ship to a distance of up to five metres, carried out a series of planned experiments and observations, and returned safely to the ship. "By means of a television system installed in the Voskhod 2, the progress of Alexei Leonov's emergence into outer space, his work outside the spaceship and his return were transmitted to the Earth and watched at a network of ground stations. Leonov felt fine outside the ship and after his return. The commander of the ship, Belyayev, also feels fine. "In the course of continued flight of Voskhod 2, further checking of the spaceship's system, medical-biological studies in the conditions of spaceflight and other scientific investigations will be carried out. "Belyayev and Leonov continue to carry out the flight programme. All the spaceship systems are functioning normally." This was followed almost immediately by a further comment: "The flight of the spaceship Voskhod 2 continues successfully. Millions of televiewers saw on their screens how Pilot-Cosmonaut Leonov stepped out of the spaceship into outer space and floated Leonid Brezhnev speaking by radio telephone to Col Belyayev while in orbit, with other Soviet leaders in attendance. Front row, left to right: A. Mikoyan, N. Podgorny, A. Kosygin, L Brezhnev, M. Suslov and G. Voronov
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