On March 18, 1965, the Soviet spacecraft Voskhod 2 took off with two cosmonauts: Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov. At just 30 years old, Leonov was about to make history by stepping outside the spacecraft in the first-ever spacewalk.
As the mission launched, American networks broadcast the event live. Inside the Kremlin, Leonid Brezhnev watched and sent a congratulatory message to the floating cosmonauts. But mid-broadcast, something unexpected happened: the live feed suddenly cut out, and listeners were met with Mozart’s Requiem. The reason for this disruption remained a mystery for decades, partly due to the Soviet Union’s strict control over information regarding the space program.
### What Went Wrong
The spacewalk didn’t go as smoothly as planned. Leonov’s suit was pressurized at 0.4 atmospheres when he exited the airlock. Once outside, that pressure caused the suit to balloon, making it difficult for him to move when it was time to re-enter. In an attempt to return, he had to bleed some pressure from the suit, risking the chance of decompression sickness. He did this without consulting mission control and returned inside, drenched in sweat and with a racing heart.
While Leonov’s 2004 memoir portrays a dramatic rescue, a reassessment in 2020 revealed a calmer version of events. The official reports showed he had planned to reduce the suit pressure and that his return was less frantic than described later. Even so, it was clear that the spacewalk faced real challenges.
### The Unsafe Journey Home
The difficulties didn’t end with the spacewalk. Voskhod 2 was supposed to last about a day, but the automatic guidance system failed during reentry, forcing Belyayev to manually control the spacecraft. Then, the modules failed to separate as expected, causing the spacecraft to spin wildly. Both men felt the strain of high G-forces and were worried about their safety.
When they finally landed, it was far from the intended site, plunging into a snowy forest in the Urals. The cosmonauts faced another challenge: they needed to survive the cold, which reached -30°C, while waiting for help. They stripped down to stay warm, wringing out their sweat-soaked suits.
Rescue didn’t come until two days later. A ground team had to clear a landing zone for helicopters, which meant Leonov and Belyayev had to ski out, a task that showed their resilience.
### Why the Secrecy?
During the early days of the Soviet space program, failures were rarely disclosed. The public was told that the mission was successful, omitting the dangerous details that could tarnish the Soviet image. Leonov didn’t speak about the mishaps publicly until the late 1980s, when Soviet policies began to change.
With the Glasnost movement in the late 1980s, more closed-off histories of the space program began surfacing. Leonov gradually shared his experiences, but it wasn’t until the publication of his 2004 memoir that many details became widely known.
### Lessons from Voskhod 2
The Voskhod 2 mission highlighted the contrasts between Soviet and American space programs. While Leonov’s risky spacewalk was shrouded in secrecy, the first American spacewalk by Ed White in June 1965 was documented openly. This difference in transparency became a hallmark of the ongoing space race.
Afterward, improvements in technology resulted from the Voskhod missions. The lessons learned—especially about spacesuit design—helped shape future space exploration, particularly in the later Soyuz missions.
Leonov returned to space in 1975 for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, symbolizing cooperation in what once was a fierce rivalry. His earlier ordeal on Voskhod 2 remained a testament to the dangers faced in the early days of space exploration, something he acknowledged throughout his life until his passing in 2019.
The story of Voskhod 2 serves as a powerful reminder of the risks involved in pushing the boundaries of human achievement, and how far we’ve come since those early, hazardous missions.
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