Aleksei Leonov, 1st person to walk in space, dies at 85

Alexei Leonov almost died during his stellar 1965 spacewalk. He lived another 54 years.

The Russian Air Force pilot turned cosmonaut, who was the first person to perform a space walk, died Friday in Moscow, the Russian space agency announced. Leonov was 85.

Leonov became a hero in the Soviet Union when he scored a big win in the nation's space race against the U.S. and spent 10 minutes tethered outside his spacecraft in 1965. Though he and his co-pilot Pavel Belyayev didn't reveal it until years later, Leonov's spacesuit unexpectedly inflated while he was outside the ship, and he almost didn't make it back in, per The New York Times. He eventually made it back inside, and after a few more crises, the cosmonauts returned safely to Earth.

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American astronaut Edward White didn't match Leonov's feat until months later, and Leonov was determined to become the first person to go to the moon as well. He would've likely at least been the first Russian on the moon if the Soviets hadn't abandoned that goal after the U.S. achieved it. Still, Leonov did return to space in 1975, where his crafts connected with Americans' and the two groups toured each others' ships. He also drew his view of Earth from his spacewalk mission, creating what's probably the first piece of art made in outer space.