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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0853.PDF
?i/GHT International, 25 March 1965 freely there. While outside the ship, the cosmonaut examined the outer surface of the ship, took pictures with his cine camera and carried out visual observations of the Earth and outer space. After fulfilling the programme, Cosmonaut Leonov re-entered the space- ship. "Altogether, Cosmonaut Leonov spent about 20min in conditions of outer space, including lOmin outside the spaceship. The entire procedure of leaving the spaceship and returning to it was earned out under the control of the ship's commander, with whom con- linous communication was maintained. The commander of the spaceship, Col Belyayev, reported to the flight control centre: 'The assignment concerning the leaving and return to the spaceship has been carried out in full. The parameters in the cabin are within normal limits. Further work is proceeding in strict accordance with the flight programme'." Details of Leonov's space suit were given in further official communiques: "The space suit which enabled man to leave his space capsule opens up new prospects for solving the secrets of the universe, says a Soviet physician, Vladimir Krichagin, in a com- mentary for Tass. It is in fact a miniature hermetic cabin which consists of a metal helmet with a transparent visor, a multi-layer hermetic suit, gloves and specially designed footwear. The space suit has its own power circuit feeding communications, and a system for transmitting of physiological functions. "It goes without saying that when the space suit becomes an individual capsule, normal conditions cannot be ensured. It is impossible to create atmospheric pressure within the suit because it would then inflate like a football bladder and the man would turn into a statue, unable to bend his legs and arms. Research showed that the air pressure inside the space suit should be at least 0.4 atmospheres. Even in this case, the space suit inflates considerably and it is tiring to work inside without special devices. "Physiologists decided to eliminate nitrogen from the cosmonaut's organism before he finds himself in airless space. It was established that prolonged (over one hour) respiration in pure oxygen literally washes nitrogen out of the tissues of the body and then the pressure can be safely reduced. It was in this way that it was possible to free a man in the space suit from a considerable portion of the immobiliz- ing effect of an 'inflated football bladder'. "There must be a steady supply of pure oxygen for the cosmonaut in his space suit. It should be borne in mind that his body, too, has to 'breathe' and that every hour his organism has to give off up to 300 kilocalories of heat into the surrounding media. Otherwise his body's temperature will go up and he may come down with a heat stroke. To avoid this the space suit has a special air-conditioning system through which air at room temperature is pumped into the space suit. This air carries away excess heat of the organism and skin-exuded moisture. "To protect man in space from the heat of solar rays and from the cold in the shadow of the Earth or the ship, the space suit is covered by a powerful thermal insulation layer and coated with a light colour that deflects heat rays. The air for ventilation and oxygen for respiration can be taken from the capsule and from cylinders attached to the space suit (naturally for short periods of time). In these simply designed but economical space suits of the ventilation type, the used air is ejected into the outer environment. "Space suits of the so-called regenerating type are more com- plicated. In such space suits the available air and hydrogen supply circulates from the space suit to a generating device and back. This device on the suit's surface removes carbon dioxide and excess moisture from the 'used' air and also replenishes the oxygen supply and cools off gases to a pre-set temperature. This type of space suit may well be used for prolonged work in space and for landing on the Moon's surface." After a number of progress reports throughout the flight, the following Tass announcement was broadcast at 1.55 p.m. GMT on March 19: "Col Belyayev and Lt-Col Alexei Leonov safely landed aboard the ship Voskhod 2 in the area of the city of Perm, West of the Urals, at 12.02 Moscow time (09.02 GMT). In landing, the commander of the ship used the system of manual control. The ship's commander, Pavel Belyayev, and co-pilot Alexei Leonov are feeling well. "Their programme of scientific experiments was carried out in full. A complex experiment was made successfully during the flight, opening a new stage in Man's conquest of space: a cos- monaut dressed in a special spacesuit with an autonomous life support system floated freely in outer space. The data received during the flight of Voskhod 2 are being tabulated and analysed." Alexei Leonov about to leave Voskhod 2, as seen on Soviet television. The projection on the right was stated to hold a cine camera Further views (above and below) of Leonov after leaving the spacecraft during the second orbit. Attached by line to the Voskhod, the cosmonaut floated to a distance of about five metres from the craft, took cine films and carried out unspecified experiments and observations
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