The Voskhod Programme
The Voskhod programme was the Soviet Union's second human spaceflight project and developed out of the earlier Vostok programme. Only two manned flights were made as part of the project which aimed to achieve Soviet milestones in space, particularly the launch of the first multi-person crew. This was achieved by Voskhod 1, which became the first spaceflight to carry more than one person into orbit, beating the American's Gemini programme to yet another first. However, the Voskhod programme is best remembered for the flight of Voskhod 2, when Aleksei Leonov became the first man to carry out a spacewalk or EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity).
The spacecraft used as part of the Voskhod programme were heavily based upon the earlier Vostok variety. However, the ejection seat was removed to make way for two more cosmonauts and a solid fuel retrorocket was added to the descent module. This booster provided a smoother landing for the descent module which would now carry the crew all the way back to Earth. Further changes were made to the Voskhod spacecraft for Leonov's historic mission, namely the inclusion of the Volga inflatable airlock. This was only extended once Voskhod 2 was in orbit and it was discarded once Leonov was back inside the spacecraft. It was controlled from inside the Voskhod capsule by the mission's commander, Pavel Belyayev.
Aleksei Leonov during his spacewalk (NASA)
Leonov's historic spacewalk lasted less than 12 minutes, but it was long enough to beat the Americans to yet another first in space. It had taken the cosmonaut 18 months of intense training to prepare for the EVA for which he wore a special backpack, supplying him with oxygen. However, his mission very nearly ended in disaster when his space suit inflated in the vacuum of space, making it very difficult for him to move. This meant that Leonov was unable to take any photographs of his spacecraft and was also unable to recover the camera that had been filming his spacewalk. By far the most alarming problem, however, was the realisation that Leonov could no longer fit inside the inflatable airlock. The cosmonaut had actually been given a suicide pill for use in just such an event, but was able to solve the problem by venting some of the suit's pressure and squeezing back into the spacecraft.
Voskhod 2 was the final mission in the Voskhod program. A change of leadership in Russia saw the focus of the space program shift towards the moon. Leonov's ability to maintain a cool head during emergency situations had been noted and in 1968 he was selected to command a circumlunar flight. However, with the success of Apollo 8, which successfully orbited the moon in December 1968, this flight was cancelled. Leonov was switched to another important mission, the attempt to land a Soviet cosmonaut on the moon.