Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first in the world on March 18, 1965 to go into outer space from the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, where he spent more than 12 minutes. “When I left the airlock, I felt a powerful flow of light and heat, reminiscent of electric welding. Above me was a black sky and bright, unblinking stars. The sun appeared to me like a hot fiery disk. I felt vastness and lightness, it was light and good,” he said on March 23 on Red Square. Behind us was a flight into space, overcoming emergency situations and a two-day wait for a search party in the cold taiga. Overnight, the USSR pulled far ahead in the space race with the USA, two crew members - Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev - became heroes of the Soviet Olympus, a symbol of its technical power.

Pavel Belyaev died in 1970 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. 81-year-old Alexey Leonov continues to live and work. On the 51st anniversary of the first manned spacewalk, we will tell you about the path of a native of the village of Listvyanka, Kemerovo region, to the top of world cosmonautics.

Leonov family, photo taken in Kemerovo on January 1, 1948. The future space conqueror is second from the right in the middle row.

Alexey Leonov was born on May 30, 1934 in the village of Listvyanka, Kemerovo region and was the eighth child in the family (the Leonovs had nine children in total). Grandfather Alexei Arkhipovich was exiled to Listvyanka for participating in the events of 1905. The father of the future cosmonaut was a livestock specialist, chairman of the village council, and his mother was a teacher. In 1937, Arkhip Leonov was repressed and all his property was confiscated. After this, the pregnant mother and children had to move to Kemerovo to live with their eldest daughter, who lived with her husband in a 16-meter room in the hut of the thermal power plant builders. In 1939, the father was rehabilitated, after his return and the birth of Alexandra’s children, the family increased to eighteen people. In 1947, Leonov Sr. was sent to work in Kaliningrad, where his mother and younger children, including Alexei, had moved. Many relatives of the astronaut still live in this city.

This photo was taken on April 10, 1952 at secondary school No. 21 in Kaliningrad during a chemistry class. Leonov will graduate from school in 1953.

One of Alexey Leonov’s favorite hobbies is drawing. His talents as an artist appeared quite early, and after graduating from school, he submitted documents to the Riga Academy of Arts. A talented young man was enrolled in the first year when he found out that he did not have the right to a dormitory. I had to look for other options. Full support was offered by the 10th Military Aviation School for initial training of pilots in Kremenchug (central Ukraine), where Komsomol recruitment was announced, and, without hesitation, Leonov entered there. After completing the initial training course, he was transferred to the military aviation school in the city of Chuguev (Kharkiv region).

March 13, 1956. Leonov is a cadet at the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilot School (VAUL). He will complete his training in 1957, after which he will be sent for military service to the Guards Aviation Regiment in Kremenchug.

In Kremenchug, Alexey Arkhipovich met Svetlana Pavlovna Dotsenko, who became his wife three days later. The couple are still together, Svetlana Pavlovna worked as an editor in the editorial and publishing department of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC), and is now retired. The marriage produced two children - Victoria and Oksana. Victoria, who worked at the Ministry of the Navy, died at the age of 35 from hepatitis, and Oksana works as a translator and has a family and children. She is now 49 years old.

Beach photos taken on July 1, 1964 during a vacation on the Black Sea. On the last one are Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev.

By the way, Alexey Arkhipovich has been depicted drawing in many photographs, starting from his school days. From time to time his works, including those on the theme of space, can be seen at exhibitions:

At the end of 1959, Leonov was transferred to an air regiment stationed in Germany, but three months later he was recalled to Moscow - he was selected to join the first cosmonaut corps. In 2015, the cosmonaut spoke about this in an interview with actor Yevgeny Mironov, who plays him in the film “The Time of the First” (the premiere of the film is scheduled for October 27, 2016):

“Chief designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, after launching the first satellite on October 4, 1957, began developing a manned spacecraft. He believed that the first cosmonauts should be fighter pilots. Such a pilot is a co-pilot, a navigator, an engineer, a gunner, and a radio operator. The requirements were: not older than 30 years, excellent health, ability to fly in all conditions on MiG aircraft - -15, -17, -19, -21. Out of three thousand guys, 20 were selected. We were tested in a centrifuge, 14 thousand meters high, with only one mask on our face. They tested intelligence, conducted research in chambers of absolute silence, and exposed to high temperatures up to +80 °C for four hours.”

February 1, 1965, during a break between classes, pilot-cosmonauts of the USSR stand at the blackboard, from left to right - Pavel Popovich, Alexei Leonov, Yuri Gagarin, Pavel Belyaev, Valentina Tereshkova, Andriyan Nikolaev. From those times, many photographs have been preserved showing future space discoverers together.

In the following photographs, Belyaev and Leonov are engaged in physical training in Star City. March 1965, the legendary flight will take place very soon...

March 18, 1965 became the culminating day for the Soviet-American space race and the life of Alexei Leonov himself. At 10.00 Moscow time, a three-stage Voskhod launch vehicle launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which launched the Voskhod-2 spacecraft into orbit. The crew consisted of two people: ship commander Pavel Belyaev and co-pilot Alexei Leonov. Already at 11.34 Moscow time, Leonov, having overcome the airlock chamber, went into outer space - for the first time in the history of mankind. At this time, Pavel Belyaev announced to the whole world: “Attention! Man has entered outer space! Video footage from space was broadcast on all channels.

The astronaut spent a little more than 12 minutes in outer space, moving as far as possible from the spacecraft to a distance of five meters. However, during the flight, the cosmonauts encountered a number of serious problems, which were overcome by the high professionalism of the crew. According to Leonov, “there were seven serious emergency situations, of which three or four were fatal.” The first major problem arose from the spacesuit:

“At the eighth minute of the spacewalk, I felt that the phalanges of my fingers came out of my gloves, and my feet dangled freely in my boots, and the spacesuit began to deform. I understood that I would not be able to enter the ship under such pressure. Without permission, I released the pressure, gained freedom, but could not enter the board feet first, as expected. The spacesuit increased in volume, my right hand was occupied by the movie camera, I could not throw it - the result of all the work. I threw the camera into the airlock with my right hand, grabbed the rail (guides inside the airlock) with my right hand and decided to go head first, and then turn around to close the hatch. It was incredibly difficult, because the height of the suit is 1.9 meters, and the airlock is only 1.2 meters in diameter. Just imagine how I would begin to report via open communication to the whole world that I have problems. I didn’t want to create fuss and panic.”

After the cosmonaut returned to the ship, the partial pressure of oxygen in the cabin began to rapidly increase - as it turned out later, Leonov touched the equipment with a hose from his spacesuit. Difficulties also arose during the return of the ship - the automatic orientation system to the Sun did not work and Pavel Belyaev had to manually orient the ship and turn on the braking engine. By the way, these manipulations were also performed for the first time in the world. Nevertheless, the ship successfully landed in the Perm region, 30 km from the city of Berezniki. In total, the flight lasted 26 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The adventures didn't end there:

“When we landed, they didn’t find us right away. We sat in spacesuits for two days, we had no other clothes. On the third day they pulled us out of there. Because of the sweat, there was about six liters of moisture in my spacesuit up to my knees. So it was gurgling in my legs. Then, already at night, I tell Pasha: “That’s it, I’m cold.” We took off our spacesuits, stripped naked, wrung out our underwear, and put them on again. Then the screen-vacuum thermal insulation was removed. They threw away the entire hard part and put the rest on themselves. These are nine layers of aluminized foil coated with dederon on top. They wrapped themselves on top with parachute lines, like two sausages. And so we stayed there for the night. And at 12 noon a helicopter arrived.”

March 18, 1965, people on the streets of Moscow look at portraits of the Voskhod-2 crew.

“There is a whole science - psychological compatibility. If all crews are built to be compatible, Voskhod 2 will be ideal. I didn’t doubt Pasha for a minute. There were rumors about Korolev's order that if Leonov did not re-enter the ship, abandon it and return. Pasha later told me that he would rather shoot himself than return alone.”

March 21, 1965, Kazakh SSR. Belyaev and Leonov talk on the phone with the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev after the successful completion of the flight.

A couple of days to rest, and the cosmonauts went to Moscow. On March 23, 2016, from the Mausoleum, Leonov uttered the following words:

“I want to tell you that the picture of the cosmic abyss that I saw, with its grandeur, immensity, brightness of colors and sharp contrasts of thick darkness with the dazzling radiance of the stars, simply amazed and enchanted me. To complete the picture, imagine - against this background I see our Soviet spaceship, illuminated by the bright light of the sun's rays. When I left the airlock, I felt a powerful flow of light and heat, reminiscent of electric welding. Above me was a black sky and bright, unblinking stars. The sun appeared to me like a hot fiery disk. I felt vastness and lightness, it was light and good...”

After the flight into space, world fame fell on Belyaev and Leonov, trips began throughout the Soviet Union and abroad, speeches, receptions, flowers, meetings with Komsomol members and leaders of allied countries of the USSR.

You would never have guessed - in the next photo you see Alexei Leonov and Yuri Gagarin. April 12, 1965, Star City, costumed celebration of new cosmonauts:

After going into space, Alexei Leonov was included in the group of the “lunar” program; he was supposed to become the first person to set foot on the surface of the Earth’s satellite. However, the Americans were ahead of the USSR, and the project was canceled. Then the cosmonaut graduated from the Air Force Engineering Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky, was awarded in 1975 for the successful docking of spacecraft as part of the Soyuz-Apollo program. In 1991, Alexey Arkhipovich retired, lives in Moscow, is engaged in scientific activities and continues to draw.

Maria Al-Salkhani

On May 30, 1934, the outstanding cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was born. He was the first to go into outer space and despite all the difficulties of the flight, he was able to successfully complete it. Not many people know that Alexey Arkhipovich is also a wonderful artist. We will talk about this and much more in this article.

short biography

Born in a small village called Listvyanka, located six hundred kilometers north of the city of Kemerovo. He was the eighth child in the family. In 1936, the head of the Leonov family was repressed following a denunciation. And the family was left without a breadwinner, but relatives came to the rescue.

From the memoirs of Alexey Leonov: “At that time, my older sister lived in Kemerovo and worked on the construction of a thermal power plant. There she married a boy from Mogilev - he also worked in construction and studied at a technical school. They had a room in the barracks. In thirty-degree frost, my sister’s husband came for us on the sledge, spread out a sheepskin coat, laid the eight of us down and covered the sheepskin coat on top….

So we found ourselves in a Kemerovo barracks - eleven people in a sixteen-meter room

The guy was 22 years old - a simple worker, a student, he sheltered the family of an enemy of the people. Well, what kind of courage you had to have..."

This is how the harsh childhood years of the future cosmonaut passed. In 1939, my father was rehabilitated and life became easier, but in 1941 the Great Patriotic War began.

At the age of ten, Alyosha began earning money on his own by painting carpets. Father brought household paints, pulled on a sheet, and he prepared a primer: rye flour, wood glue, chalk and drying oil. For one carpet he received two loaves of bread.

As a child, the future cosmonaut became interested in drawing and aviation. By the time he received his certificate in 1953, Alexey had fully mastered the design of aircraft engines, aircraft and the theory of flight. The young man gained this knowledge by reading the notes of his older brother, who had once studied to become an aviation technician. So, upon completion of school, he hesitated in choosing his future profession between art and aviation.

Alexey applied to the Riga Academy of Arts, but upon learning that dormitories are available to students only from the third year of study, he left the first year. And in August 1953 he was enrolled in the tenth Military Aviation School for initial pilot training, located in the city of Kremenchug (Poltava region), which he successfully graduated in 1955. There, the future cosmonaut showed extraordinary abilities and was sent to Ukraine to the city of Chuguev to the Higher Military School of Fighter Pilots.

After a meeting with the future head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Karpov, in 1960, Alexei Leonov was enrolled in a special detachment. This was followed by CPC courses and countless training sessions. In 1964, the design bureau under the leadership of Korolev began construction of a new spacecraft that would allow astronauts to go into airless space. This ship was Voskhod-2.

Two crews were preparing for the flight. The main team included Alexey Lenov and Pavel Belyaev, their backups were cosmonauts Khrunov and Gorbatko. The historic flight and the first manned spacewalk took place on March 18, 1965.

Spacewalk

Alexey Arkhipovich ends his book “Going into Space” with these words: “Going into space is one of the most difficult operations in orbit, requiring great skill, careful preparation and enormous courage. I watch the current cosmonauts on television, listen to their reports to Earth, and every time I relive my flight. I envy them and wish them success with all my heart.”

Alexey Leonov's second flight into space

In 1975, together with Valery Kubasov, he made his second flight into space as commander of the Soyuz-19 spacecraft under the ASTP program (Soyuz-Apollo program). The flight duration was 5 days 22 hours 30 minutes 51 seconds. Then, for the first time in the world, the docking of ships from two different countries was carried out, and the astronauts also conducted many medical-biological, astrophysical, geophysical and technological experiments.

• Was the eighth child in the family
• When Alexei Arkhipovich was 2 years old (1936), his father was repressed for a conflict with the chairman of a collective farm; neighbors were allowed to plunder property
• Together with his family - 11 people - lived in a 16 m2 room
• On January 22, 1969, he was in Brezhnev’s car at the time of the attempt on the General Secretary’s life (the car was fired upon by officer Viktor Ilyin). Not injured
• An incident that saved a life. In 1971, he was the commander of the main crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft. Shortly before the launch, the medical commission rejected one of the cosmonauts, and the entire crew was replaced, including Leonov. The backups flew - Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsayev, who died during the landing of the descent module
• Alexey Arkhipovich was one of two candidates for participation in the program to land a Soviet cosmonaut on the surface of the Moon
• Leonov’s favorite hobby all his life was and remains painting, which the cosmonaut became interested in in his youth. He is the author of over two hundred paintings and five albums with reproductions. His works include space and earth landscapes, portraits of friends, and fantastic scenes.

Alexey Leonov was born on May 30, 1934 in the small village of Listvyanka, 600 kilometers north of the city of Kemerovo in the southeast of Western Siberia. The family was large, Alexey was the eighth child.

At an early age he showed interest in art and aviation. In 1936, Alexei Leonov's father became the target of repression, but was rehabilitated in 1939. The family moved to Kemerovo, and then to Kaliningrad, where Leonov’s relatives currently live. In 1953, Alexey graduated from high school. By that time, he had achieved good academic results, success in sports and knew a lot about airplanes. Thanks to his older brother, who was an aircraft technician, Alexey Leonov learned a lot about aircraft engines, aircraft design, and even the theory of flight. This was enough to enter the aviation school that Leonov had dreamed of since childhood.

Astronaut career

In 1953-1955, Alexey studied at the Military Aviation School for initial pilot training in Kremenchug. Then he entered the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots, from which the future famous cosmonaut received a diploma in 1957. In 1960, Alexey Leonov passed the necessary tests and was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps. This was a very high honor, since the cosmonaut profession was among the most privileged and respected in the Soviet Union.

In 1960-1961, Leonov attended cosmonaut training courses. On March 17, 1965, Alexey Leonov was appointed co-pilot of the Voskhod 2 mission. A spacecraft with two astronauts on board went into space and remained there for 1 day, 2 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Alexey Leonov left the spacecraft and stayed in outer space for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. After attempting to return to the spacecraft, Leonov realized that his suit had bulged, so he was unable to enter the spacecraft. But the astronaut did not panic; he managed to open the pressure-reducing valve of the suit and get on board.

However, this was not the only problem of the mission. Before landing, the spacecraft's navigation system stopped working. The spacecraft landed 180 kilometers north of the city of Perm, in the impenetrable taiga. The astronauts spent two nights in the deep forest in terrible frost. Only on the third day a group of rescuers discovered them. Despite all the problems of the mission, Alexey Leonov made the shortest and most optimistic report in the history of astronautics: “You can survive and work in space.” These words began a new era of human activity in space.

For his successful mission, Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Leonov received the title "Hero of the Soviet Union" on March 23, 1965. He was also awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

From 1965 to 1967, Leonov served as chief instructor, cosmonaut, and cosmonaut pilot. In July 1975, Alexey Leonov made his second flight into space. This was the first joint work between the USSR and the USA. Leonov was the commander of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19. The mission was successful and lasted 5 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and 51 seconds. Major General Alexei Leonov was awarded the second Gold Star medal and the second Order of Lenin, and received the second title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1976-1982, Leonov became deputy director of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He was also the editor of the astronaut newspaper Neptune.

The cosmonaut retired in 1991, but Alexey Leonov still leads an active life. He is vice-president of a Moscow bank and advisor to the first deputy council. He also loves to draw. There were several exhibitions of his work, including drawings he made during his space flights. Leonov is the creator of more than 200 paintings. Since 1965 he has been a member of the Union of Artists.

Personal life

Alexey Arkhipovich is married to Svetlana Pavlovna Leonova. The marriage produced two children. One of the daughters, Victoria, died in 1996 due to viral hepatitis. Daughter Oksana works as vice president of Alfa Bank.

Tip 2: Evgeny Leonov: biography, creativity, career, personal life

Evgeny Leonov is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. He became known for his comedic images in such cult Soviet films as “Striped Flight”, “Gentlemen of Fortune”, “Afonya”, “Ordinary Miracle”, “Big Change”, “Autumn Marathon” and many others. A good-natured round face with a charming sly smile, a bald head and the figure of a teddy bear always evoked love and tenderness in the audience. And in his characteristic hoarse voice, every child and adult instantly recognizes Winnie the Pooh.

Tip 3: Yuri Leonov: biography, creativity, career, personal life

Yuri Leonov is a legendary hockey player who played for Dynamo Moscow, CSKA, Avangard, winner of the Golden Helmet. Now he continues to work as a coach, preparing KHL teams.

The biography of Yuri Leonov is a rare example of determination and loyalty to one cause. In his youth, he chose his path and, despite life’s changes and difficulties, remains faithful to it today. Even injuries did not prevent him from winning championships - he never let his team down.

Youth and first team

Yuri was born on April 28, 1963 in Ust-Kamenogorsk, a town in southeastern Kazakhstan. He started playing hockey at the same time he entered first grade - at the age of 7. He was very lucky with his coach, who turned out to be Yuri Pavlovich Tarkhov. Under his leadership, many excellent athletes were formed. In the same team with Yura Leonov, center forward Alexander Dmitriev and Igor Belyaevsky mastered the basics of hockey. Of course, the boys dreamed of getting into the legendary Torpedo club, and fought for victory on the ice without discounts or screw-ups, playing for their favorite team.

After graduating from the Youth Sports School, 17-year-old Yuri Leonov managed to get into Enbek. In the 80s, the Almaty club consisted of Torpedo students, talented and efficient. The club was led by Yuri Baulina, who soon brought the guys from the second union league to the first. Young Leonov had excellent abilities and skills as a striker. He saw the field perfectly, made dribbles carefully and imperceptibly, and knew how to eliminate the opponent in such a way that there was nothing to complain about. Over 3 seasons, he scored 110 goals - a respectable number for a young athlete.

Transfer to Dynamo Moscow

Yuri Leonov took a big step forward by moving to the famous Moscow Dynamo in 1983. A year later he was invited to the USSR national team, where he successfully debuted as a striker. In 1985, he injured his hand and the first world championship, where he was able to show his game, took place in 1990. Yuri brought gold medals to the team. This season became significant for the blue and white - for the first time in many years, they pushed CSKA aside and won the USSR championship.

Yuri Leonov played for Dynamo for 11 seasons, playing 409 matches and becoming truly famous. He won 8 medals at the championships of the USSR and the Russian Federation, and also scored 128 goals:

• 2 gold;
• 4 silver;
• 2 bronzes.

Yuri Leonov devoted all his time to training, giving his all at every game. The natural result of his efforts were awards. In 1995, he received the Golden Helmet as the best hockey player in the championship, and the following year, 1996, he won the Golden Stick.

Yuri was often invited to the USSR national team, where he made a significant contribution to the history of victories. Leonov played 32 matches, scoring 5 goals. He played another 10 games for the Russian national team. The talented striker received prizes from the Izvestia newspaper three times as the winner of the tournament; his career as an athlete culminated with the title of world champion in 1990. With his participation, the second USSR national team twice became the winner of tournaments, receiving the prestigious prize of the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper.

Foreign "tours"

In the difficult 90s, Yuri Leonov, like many, tried to start a career abroad. In 1991, he began playing for the Swiss club Ambri-Piotta. As part of this team, he scored 52 goals. Yuri was invited by the Norwegian club Storhamar Dragons, for which he scored 37 goals. During these years, he became the champion of Norway twice - in 1997 and 2000. Then there was the Slovenian club Triglav (37 hits), the Italian Milan Devils.

The nineties were an ambiguous time. Leonov did not spend all these years abroad. In 1993, he returned to Dynamo again and played for the national team. In 1999, he played 16 matches for the Avangard team, receiving a total of 18 penalty minutes. In the same season, he took third place on the podium at the 1999 Continental Cup.

Yuri Leonov ended his sports career again in Russia in 2002. He did not leave sports - he switched to coaching.

At coaching job

From 2002 to 2005, Yuri Leonov was a coach at the youth sports school of his native Dynamo. In 2005, he received the title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia. The following year, in November, he moved to SKA St. Petersburg, and then became an assistant on Barry Smith’s staff. This is a famous American hockey manager, a former coach, who was invited to work in the Northern capital in those years.

In 2008, Yuri Vladimirovich became the head coach of the Navy hockey club of St. Petersburg in August and remained so until June 2012. The club successfully played in the Major Hockey League. Then Leonov worked for two years at Vityaz Podolsk, which played in the KHL, and in 2014 he moved to Amur (Khabarovsk, KHL).

The Kontinental Hockey League is the pinnacle of coaching recognition. The league was created in 2008, initially including 24 clubs. The main prize of the KHL tournament is the Gagarin Cup. It brings together teams from almost a dozen countries:

• Russia;
• Belarus;
• Latvia;
• Kazakhstan;
• China;
• Slovenia;
• Finland.

Journalists know nothing about the coach’s personal life. He willingly comments on games, gives interviews at press conferences, but talks only about the work of the players, about the goals scored, and about the prospects of the teams. A student of the “old school” never shares intimate details of his own life and does not talk about his family.

Achievements of Yuri Vladimirovich Leonov

• 1990 World Champion
• Three-time winner of tournaments for prizes from the Izvestia newspaper - 1984, 1994, 1995.

The name of cosmonaut Leonov is well known in our country and throughout the world. Alexey Leonov was the first to film a video in outer space, leaving In our article we will tell you how it happened and why he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for completing such a seemingly simple task. We will also tell you why Sergei Korolev chose him for this mission. The biography of Alexei Leonov is the fate of an ordinary Soviet man 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. His father, an electric railway mechanic from Donbass, after the end of the civil war moved to Siberia to live with his father, the grandfather of the future cosmonaut, and began working as a livestock specialist. Mother settled in these places earlier. Alexei Leonov's grandfather was exiled to these places for participating in the revolutionary events of 1905.

The father of the future cosmonaut, Arkhip Leonov, an intelligent man and a hard worker, gained respect among his fellow villagers and was elected by them as chairman of the village council. The wave of repression did not spare this family either. My father was repressed in 1936, but in 1939 he was restored to his rights and fully acquitted.

Little is known about Alexei’s parental family and childhood. Let's hope he leaves behind a detailed book of memories.

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 permanently to a new, western region of the Soviet Union. Kaliningrad became the hometown of Alexey Arkhipovich. His relatives still live there today. In one of the squares in the central part of the city, a monument was erected in honor of space explorers. The street named after cosmonaut Leonov originates from it.

Profession: fighter pilot

Alexey Leonov’s interest in flying did not arise by chance. His older brother, Pyotr 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 involved in fencing, cycling, javelin throwing and athletics. Has ranks. His interest in painting developed into great talent.

Kaliningrad residents who personally knew Alexey Arkhipovich recall that he was a great guy - sociable, athletic, cheerful and kind.

Alexey Leonov received his first flight education in Kremenchug, at a flight school. Then he studied at the Chuguev Higher School of Fighter Pilots, after graduating from which, in the late fifties, he flew combat aircraft.

The first cosmonaut squad

Sergei Korolev very carefully selected candidates for space flights. Alexey Leonov’s track record, in addition to excellent performance from his duty station and excellent sports training, also included landing a MIG-15bis fighter aircraft in extreme conditions with a stalled engine. In the early sixties, he was accepted into the first, Gagarin, cosmonaut corps, consisting of twenty people.

Alexey Leonov was perfectly prepared for spacewalk. Besides him, the cosmonaut corps included other, no less worthy candidates. This is Valery Bykovsky, and Pavel Popovich, and Viktor Gorbatko, and Vladimir Komarov, and Ivan Anikeev, and others. A total of 20 people. Technically, each of them could cope with any simulated situation. S.P. Korolev chose Alexei Arkhipovich as the person who could most accurately describe the impression of outer space. And I was not mistaken.

Despite the fact that preparations for spacewalks were worked out many times and in detail on the ground, it turned out to be impossible to foresee everything.

The 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 exposed to enormous risks.

The truth about flight is a taboo for citizens of the USSR

Can be seen in the documentary, which includes clips he filmed. The picture he painted himself looks very impressive. This is an exact image of the ship, and next to it, in a spacesuit, is Alexey Leonov. A photograph of the painting is presented in this article. It must be said that in Soviet times only a select few could see this painting. The small size of the ship compared to its two passengers is not just impressive. They make you look at the pioneers of space as people of great courage.

The details of this event were kept secret during Soviet times. The population of the country should not have known about the miscalculations or mistakes of domestic science and the imperfection of technology.

The painting, which depicts Alexey Leonov in free flight, clearly shows: the size of the ship is so small that two people can hardly fit in it. There is no free space. Yes, based on the tasks assigned to the cosmonauts and the time they spent in flight, it 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 humans and devices created on earth to perform work in airless conditions. The crew of the ship is Pavel Belyaev and Alexey Leonov.

Three years of pre-flight preparation and only 1 day, 2 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds of flight, and the time in outer space is 23 minutes and 41 seconds. Alexey Leonov's spacewalk 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 spacecraft by a cable equipped with hooks and loops. Re-fastening the hooks helped to move closer or further from the spacecraft to the required distance.

The main task that Alexey Leonov had to perform in space was taking photographs with a video camera and a microphoto camera. The video turned out as excellent as possible with the current level of technology. But it was not possible to take photographs from a microphoto camera placed in a tiny, button-sized hole in the suit. Due to deformation, I was unable to pick up the cable that served as the camera button, and the pneumatic bulb that was put on its end came off while exiting the airlock. She got caught on the hatch cover.

Surprise with a spacesuit

Alexei's spacesuit turned out to be not quite perfect. It was tested at the maximum possible difference in external and internal pressures that can be simulated on Earth. It turned out to be too far from what takes place in space. The pressure inside the suit is 600 mm Hg. pillar, outside - 9 mm. As a result, he became bloated. The stiffening ribs and belts could not stand it. My legs and arms no longer reached the end of my sleeves and trouser legs. The suit has become an uncontrollable capsule in which a helpless person is imprisoned. The ship's commander saw what was happening with Leonov's suit, but could not help. Alexey Arkhipovich estimated that he had been breathing pure oxygen for about an hour and the nitrogen, which was present in the breathing mixture on the ship, should have been washed out of the blood by this time. He decided to release the pressure inside the suit. This is prohibited by the instructions, but he saw no other way out. If the nitrogen remained in the blood, it would boil, which would mean death. There was no nitrogen, and Alexey Arkhipovich, hooking and unfastening the hooks of the cable, reached the hatch.

Acrobatics in the airlock compartment

The size of the airlock compartment hatch was smaller than required for the dimensions of the astronaut, whose shoulder width in space uniform is 68 cm. Since the hatch opens inward, and the diameter of the airlock is 1 m, it is impossible to turn around in it. In order for Alexey Arkhipovich to fit into it and seal the hatches hermetically, it was necessary to either reduce the size of the hatch cover or reduce the cradle. It was not possible to simply increase the size of the ship. Alexey Leonov himself was in favor of maintaining the internal size of the gateway. Exit into space and return to the ship, the most rational sequence of actions were carefully verified and repeatedly practiced in simulators. But study is study, and reality is not stingy with surprises.

The astronaut entered the hatch not with his feet, as suggested by a more ergonomic approach, but with his head. To batten down 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 airlock, is extremely difficult. Alexey Arkhipovich later recalled that at the end of this acrobatics his pulse rate was 200 beats per minute, and sweat poured into his eyes in a continuous stream. Now it was necessary to separate the airlock, and you could return home to Earth. But it turned out that it was too early to calm down.

After the airlock compartment separated, 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 reduced the temperature and humidity on board as much as possible. The pressure continued to rise. The slightest spark - and they, along with the ship, would be torn into molecules. At some point, Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev passed out - either lost consciousness or fell asleep. Subsequently, when reading instrument diagrams, it turned out that the pressure inside the ship, instead of the required 160 atmospheres, reached 920 mm of mercury, after which it began to spontaneously decrease.

The fact is that the ship, which was in a static position for about an hour, became deformed. One side of it was heated by the Sun to +150 degrees Celsius, and the other, which was in the shadow, cooled to -140 degrees. As a result, the ship was not hermetically sealed. The automation switched on to compensate for oxygen leakage. Eventually the pressure became so high that it crushed the manhole cover from the inside. The sealing was restored, and the devices received the appropriate signal to release excess pressure. A stream of air from the outside of the ship gave it a rotational movement.

Stopping the rotation was, as they say, a matter of technique, that is, not difficult. There was one more task ahead - landing.

Freelance landing

It is believed that takeoff and landing are the most complex processes when controlling a spacecraft. Voskhod 2 landed in manual control mode. Instead of the planned point near Kustanay, he plunged into one and a half meters of snow in the remote Ural taiga, 200 km from Perm. The story of the rescue of cosmonauts from taiga captivity deserves a separate chapter. Alexey Leonov and Pavel Belyaev spent two nights wrapped in skin torn from the inside of the ship, warmed up by the fire, and Alexey Arkhipovich did physical exercises, pulling himself up on the lines of a parachute caught on the tops of pine trees. They had a food supply - freeze-dried meat, chocolate, biscuits and cottage cheese with cherry juice.

After the astronauts were found, and this happened four hours after landing (this was helped by the bright orange canopy of a kilometer-long parachute, the flight of which was seen by residents of nearby settlements), they were given warm clothes and food, but the rescuers were unable to reach the pilots. For evacuation, it was necessary to organize a place for a helicopter to land. A team of loggers with chainsaws arrived and cleared the clearing.

Idol and faith

Alexey Leonov recalls that Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, designer of Soviet spacecraft, 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 the cosmonauts. He was their god.

It must be said that Soviet spacecraft, in terms of reliability and safety, were significantly superior to the ships of their competitors, the United States. Since the beginning of space exploration, our country has lost five astronauts during training and flights, while the Americans buried 17 astronauts. The reason for our tragedies is the so-called human factor. The 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 a pressure chamber. Vladimir Komarov died during landing - the parachute did not open. Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev died from the depressurization of the ship during landing.

Failed flight

Alexey Leonov's second flight was supposed to take place in June 1961. The crew consisted of three cosmonauts - Alexey Leonov, Valery Kubasov and Pyotr Kolodin. Shortly before the scheduled launch day, the medical commission discovered that Valery had a slight problem. It was decided to send a backup crew. For the first it was a tragedy: Peter never flew into space, but for the backups it was a happy occasion. The flight program was carried out brilliantly. During re-entry, trouble occurred. The astronauts mistakenly opened the sealing valve.

The ship made a soft landing in the planned area, but the people could not be saved. These were Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov and Georgy Dobrovolsky.

Second flight

Alexey Leonov was in space twice. The first flight took place in March 1965. Alexey Leonov went into outer space once. His assessment is that you can live and work in space.

He visited there for the second time in July 1976. Operation in orbit lasted for 5 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and 51 seconds. This was an international project. The goal is 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.

Painter's talent

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 photographs in space were taken only in black and white. Space photography still presents certain difficulties. This is due to different requirements for the resolution of optics than on Earth, a unique propagation of light rays, and a different refraction.

The uniqueness of the artist Alexei Leonov is that on his canvases he reproduced the technical features of space technology and an astronaut’s suit with engineering precision. And the artist’s keen eye determined which shades of the spectrum were present in the cosmic landscapes.

Alexey Arkhipovich participated in the creation of postage stamps on the theme of space. Each of them shows the present and future of astronautics. They are very interesting to look at. Take a look at the photo. Alexey Leonov can be counted among the realists who are able to foresee the future, because what he depicted did not yet exist in those years.

Life in the Earth

Alexey Arkhipovich flew into space twice. He was awarded two orders of Lenin and the Red Star, medals of our country and abroad, and is an honorary citizen of thirty Russian and foreign cities.

One of the lunar craters bears his name, as well as a planet in the constellation Libra.

Alexey Leonov, Major General of the Reserve Aviation, devoted his entire life to space. He graduated from the Air Force Engineering Academy. N. E. Zhukovsky, including adjunct studies. Alexey Arkhipovich has been involved in training cosmonauts and developing space equipment for a long time. He carried out research in the field of visual perception of color and light characteristics after a flight into space, the perception of space and time in space, psychological problems of interplanetary flight, as well as other scientific and experimental works.

He is married, has a daughter and two grandchildren.

Beginning of the third millennium

Currently, cosmonaut Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov lives in Moscow. Last year, 2014, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree. This was how the eightieth anniversary of the cosmonaut was celebrated, who worked hard and fruitfully all his life for the good of his Motherland. He will forever remain in our memory as a man 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 person whose example can and should be used to educate the younger generation is, of course, Alexey Leonov. His biography is incredibly interesting. You can read about his space epic in A. S. Eliseev’s book “Life is a Drop in the Ocean.” Several documentaries have also been made about him.

A brief biography of Alexei Leonov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, reserve aviation major general, pilot-cosmonaut, is presented in this article.

Alexey Leonov biography briefly

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov was born in the village of Listvyanka on May 30, 1934 in a large family. His father was repressed in 1936, and 3 years later he was rehabilitated. The family was forced to first move to Kemerovo, then to Kaliningrad.

In 1955, the young man graduated from the Military Aviation School of initial pilot training in Kremenchug. Further training also involved aviation: Leonov studied at the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots and the Air Force Engineering Academy named after. Zhukovsky. Qualified as a pilot-cosmonaut-engineer. In 1978 he graduated from the test pilot school.

In October 1957, he served as a pilot in the 113th Aviation Regiment of the 10th Fighter Aviation Division in the Kiev Military District. After 2 years he became a senior pilot, and in 1960, according to the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Leonov was enrolled in the cosmonaut corps of the Cosmonaut Training Center as a student-cosmonaut. In April 1961, he became a cosmonaut in the department of the Training Center.

Together with P. Belyaev, Alexey Arkhipovich made a space flight on March 18-19, 1965. Their ship Voskhod 2 was the first machine in the world to fly in outer space for 12 minutes. In addition, Leonov underwent thorough training for flights to the Earth’s satellite, the Moon.

In 1974, he received the position of deputy chief at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Gagarin and was a commander in the cosmonaut corps.

On July 15-21, 1975, Alexey Arkhipovich made another flight on the Soyuz-19 spacecraft into space. The flight lasted 5 days 22 hours 30 minutes. In the period 1982-1991, he held the post of first deputy head of the Training Center. Gagarin on space and flight training.

Leonov retired in 1992, holding the rank of major general of aviation. Until 1993, he held the post of director at the Chetek company for space programs. From 1999 to 2000, he was president of the Alfa Capital investment fund. Today Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov holds the position of adviser to the first deputy of Alfa Bank.

In addition to his scientific activities, Leonov was an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts. His brush is responsible for the creation of 200 graphic and painting canvases. He wrote several books - “Psychological Features of Interplanetary Flight”, “Perception of Space and Time in Space”, “Life Among the Stars”, “Solar Wind”, “Going Out into Space”.

Leonov is the owner of many awards and medals. He received his last award in May 2014. It was the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree. The Hero of the Soviet Union has honorary citizenship in 40 cities of Russia and other countries.

As for his personal life, Leonov is married to Svetlana Leonova, editor of the editorial and publishing department of the Central Publishing House. The marriage produced 2 daughters - Victoria and Oksana.