First Man to Walk in space dies at 85

The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced Friday that Alexei Leonov, Russian air force pilot turned cosmonaut and the first person to walk in space, has died at the age of 85.

Leonov was the first person to conduct a spacewalk during a launch of the spacecraft Voskhod-2 on March 18, 1965. The walk lasted about 20 minutes, during which he spent 10 minutes free floating while tethered to the spacecraft.

Leonov’s historic EVA almost ended in tragedy, as after several minutes outside his spacesuit ballooned, making it difficult for him to maneuver and forcing him to release air from his suit in order to propel himself back to his capsule.

The first American spacewalk, by astronaut Ed White, would not come until months afterwards.

Selected alongside Yuri Gagarin among the first 20 Soviet Air Force pilots to train as cosmonauts in 1960, Leonov flew twice into space, logging a total of 7 days and 32 minutes off the planet. He was the commander on his second space flight on July 15, 1975, when the Soviet Soyuz-19 docked with a NASA Apollo spacecraft.

Leonov met with US astronauts in space and gave TV viewers tours of their respective crafts, the first time Soviet and US cosmonauts collaborated in space. The mission is credited with kick-starting eventual international cooperation aboard the International Space Station.

He also drew his view of Earth from his spacewalk mission, creating what’s probably the first piece of art made in outer space.

His assistant, Natalya Filimonova, told Russian state-run news agency Tass that he died after a long illness at Burdenko Hospital.