Working here at the National Space Centre we get many different school groups visit us and there are certain questions that we get asked all the time. The first and most obvious is; ‘How do you use a space toilet?’, but I am not going to answer that one today! One of the other common questions is all about astronaut space suits: a topic which fascinates our visitors. We have some great examples of space suits in our galleries, particularly our Orlan space suit. Modern day astronauts wear their space suits during an EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) knowing they are safe and secure inside them. They help to protect the astronaut against the many hazards of Space including; lack of oxygen, cosmic radiation, micrometeoroids, lack of pressure, and the extreme temperatures in space.

It wasn’t always this way however. The first time a space suit was worn for a space walk or EVA was back in 1965 on 18 March, when Alexei Leonov took the brave step outside his space craft to complete the very first 12 minute 9 second space walk, connected with a 5.35 meter tether. He was on the Voshkod 2 mission with fellow astronaut Pavel Belyaev, the second Soviet multi person space mission. This mission was the first of its kind to have astronauts to complete a space walk: using an inflatable airlock Alexei made his way outside the spacecraft 90 minutes into the mission.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing as they say - unfortunately, the airlock wasn’t the only thing that inflated! After walking out into the vacuum of space Alexi’s space suit also ballooned and thus became rigid. Alexei was now unable to move his joints and was unable to fit back inside the airlock. Some quick thinking on Leonov’s part meant that he let out some of the pressure from his suit thus making it easier to move his joints. He was able to make his way back on board and he and his fellow astronaut made it safely back to the Earth.

Alexei went on to participate in the Apollo – Soyuz collaboration space mission between America and Russia following the cold war. Both countries met up in space and docked their spacecrafts before spending 44 hours together and then returning safely to Earth.

So for completing the first space walk outside a spacecraft Alexei Leonov is my space hero. If you want to find out more about space suits and the many different layers that make them work come and look in our Into Space Gallery here at the National Space Centre.

Written by Charlotte Isham