Voskhod 2

Crew:
    Pavel Belyayev [1], Commander
    Alexi Leonov [1], Flight Engineer

Backup Crew:
    Dmitri Zaikin
     (for Belyayev)
    Yevgeni Khrunov
     (for Leonov)

Launch:
    Location: Baikonur, Site 1/5
    Date: 18 March 1965
    Time: 07:00:00 UTC

Landing:
    Date: 19 March 1965
    Time: 09:02:17 UTC
    Location: 59° 34' N, 55° 28' E

Duration: 1 days, 2 hours, 2 minutes, 17 seconds

Call Sign: Almaz (Diamond)

The first space walk was performed by Leonov. The actual walk lasted about 12 minutes, but Leonov was outside the capsule for 23 minutes. He was to take pictures with a camera strapped to his leg, but when he tried to bend to reach it, the space suit bulged and prevented further movement. This also presented a problem when he tried to reenter the capsule. He was able to reenter only after dangerously reducing the pressure inside his suit, and then only with great difficulty. By the time he was able to get back inside, he was covered with sweat and suffering from heat exhaustion.

Further problems occurred when the hatch would not seal properly and the capsule had to be over pressurized with pure oxygen. Voskhod was certified only with a normal atmosphere, so a pure oxygen atmosphere presented a very real danger.

The landing occurred in the heavily forested Ural mountains, far from the designated landing place. The locator antenna was broken off by the trees and it took two and a half hours before Voskhod 2 could be located and supplies dropped. A rescue team could not reach the crew until the next day. Belyayev and Leonov exited the capsule and built a fire to keep warm, but had to retreat to the capsule when timber wolves attacked. They then spent the night holding the capsule hatch shut against the wolves.

Crew

 

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Page last modified: 20 June 2022 16:59:13.