Alexei Leonov, the first man to walk in space
by Robin McKie, science editor from on (#8Q1Z)
'I was surrounded by stars, floating without control,' recalls the cosmonaut who made history 50 years ago on a mission that nearly cost him his life
Fifty years ago, Alexei Leonov opened the airlock of his tiny space capsule, which was orbiting the Earth, and stepped into the void. For 12 minutes the Soviet cosmonaut floated above our planet, tethered to his ship by a 16ft cable. In doing so, Leonov became the first person to walk in space.
Related: The first space walk - in pictures
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