NW045 WORLD'S FIRST SPACEWALKERS
18.3.1965 Alexei Leonov - 3.6.1965 Ed White
In the spring of 1965 the space race was at its height. The
Soviet Union achieved another in its series of space spectaculars
when Alexei Leonov made the world's first space walk on March 18,
1965. The United States responded less than three months later
when Ed White ventured into the black void of space as he sallied
forth from Gemini IV. This New Ware kit commerates these heroic
space walkers with dual figures of Alexei Leonov and Ed White in
1/24th scale sculpted by Ignacio Bernacer Alpera of Spain.
While Voskhod 2 was completing its first orbit, thirty year old
Alexei Leonov entered an inflatible airlock attached to the
descent module. After depressurising the airlock, the cosmonaut
was highly elated as space he floated in space for about 12
minutes. When attempting to enter the airlock again Leonov faced
a dilemna. His Berkut spacesuit had ballooned and become rigid so
Leonov couldn't get back into the capsule correctly. Without
consulting ground control, Leonov lowered the air pressure within
his spacesuit risking the bends. The commander of Voskhod 2,
Pavel Belyayev assited Leonov by pulling him head first back into
the capsule. Voskhod 2 had further difficulties when its attitude
control sensor failed and it landed in very deep snow in the Ural
Mountains 386 kilometers away from its target. The cosmonauts had
to spend two nights in the forest in their capsule before
recovery tems were able to bring them back to the Baikinour
Cosmodrome.
Leonov was born on May 30, 1934 and was among the first group of
cosmonauts selected in 1960. According to many sources Leonov
would have been the first Soviet citizen on the moon had the N-1
and lunar landing programs been successful. Leonov later
commanded the Soviet portion of the Apollo -Soyuz Test Project in
1975. Leonov's experiences as the world's first space walker
serve as the inspriation for many of his paintings. Leonov still
resides in Star City on the outskirts of Moscow.
Just five days following the launch of Voskhod 2, the first
manned flight of the Gemini program, Gemini III, blasted off from
Cape Kennedy. The response to Leonov's feat was to advance
America's first space walk that originally had been scheduled for
late 1965 to Gemini IV, which was the next mission. While the
approval process was still pending, sealed procedures for the
space walk were sent to the stations comprising the tracking
network. Only when all approvals were provided a few days before
the flight were the procedures opened.
On June 3, 1965 Gemini IV carrying James McDivitt and Ed White
was launched for a four day mission on top of a Titan II rocket.
On the third orbit as the capsule approached Hawaii the hatch was
opened and Ed White became America's first space walker. Though
it had been planned for less than three months, Ed White made
space walking appear deceptively easy. Images of Ed White
floating outside the capsule propelled by his Hand Held
Maneuvering Unit (HHMU) are among the most widely published
images of the 20th century. After about 20 minutes, as Gemini IV
flew past Florida, Ed White returned to the capsule after a
magnificent space walk across the breadth of America. Gemini IV
successfully completed the rest of its four day mission to set a
new duration record for American spaceflight.
Ed White was born on November 14, 1930 and was selected as one of
the second group of astronauts in 1962. Due to his sucess as
America's first space walker he was chosen as the Command Module
Pilot for Apollo I, the first manned flight of the Apollo
program. Tragically on January 27, 1967, Ed White, along with Gus
Grissom and Roger Chaffee, died when a fire broke out in the
Apollo capsule during a Saturn I B launch simulation at Cape
Kennedy.