First spacewalk
- Who
- Alexei Leonov
- What
- First
- Where
- United Kingdom (low Earth orbit,)
- When
- 18 March 1965
Lt-Col. (now Maj. Gen.) Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov (b. 20 May 1934) from Voskhod 2 was the first person to engage in EVA or extra-vehicular activity, commonly known as a "spacewalk", on 18 March 1965.
Leonov’s spacewalk almost ended in disaster. At the end of his 12-minute 9-second spacewalk, his spacesuit had expanded owing to the vacuum of space and he was unable to get back into Voskhod 2. He was forced to open a valve on his suit to allow air to escape into space and semi-deflating his suit in order to get back into his spacecraft.