Out of Orbit (2011)
“In March 1965, the cosmonaut Alexei Leonov nearly died three times—first outside of his Voskhod 2 capsule, then inside of it, and then outside of it again.
Leonov, under the watch of his crewmate, Pavel Belyayev, would be the first man to attempt a space walk. The Soviets had designed a primitive, inflatable airlock for their stripped-down capsule and a spacesuit that Leonov could fill up with air, like a deep-sea diver’s, and attach to an umbilical cord that would prevent his drifting away. Th...en they ordered him to head outside.
Tumbling without anchor, Leonov watched in horror when his umbilical cord almost immediately twisted like a rubber band. In his struggle to work out the kinks, he lost track of time and found himself with only a few minutes to return to the relative safety of the capsule. To make matters worse, his suit had filled up with too much air in the meantime, inflated taut, and Leonov couldn’t bend his legs enough to shimmy his way back through the hatch. He had become the original square peg.MoreLess
Leonov, under the watch of his crewmate, Pavel Belyayev, would be the first man to attempt a space walk. The Soviets had designed a primitive, inflatable airlock for their stripped-down capsule and a spacesuit that Leonov could fill up with air, like a deep-sea diver’s, and attach to an umbilical cord that would prevent his drifting away. Th...en they ordered him to head outside.
Tumbling without anchor, Leonov watched in horror when his umbilical cord almost immediately twisted like a rubber band. In his struggle to work out the kinks, he lost track of time and found himself with only a few minutes to return to the relative safety of the capsule. To make matters worse, his suit had filled up with too much air in the meantime, inflated taut, and Leonov couldn’t bend his legs enough to shimmy his way back through the hatch. He had become the original square peg.MoreLess
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