WALKING IN SPACE G212

 WALKING IN SPACE

The whole world seemed to be black and empty. The sky was black with bright, shining stars that never twinkled. The sun, white, round and burning seemed to hang in the black space. This was the scene that spread before the eyes of the first astronaut who left his spaceship to walk in outer space. The name of this Soviet astronaut was Leonov; and the date was March 18,1965. Several months later, an American astronaut did the same thing. Both of these "space walkers" had spent months before their flight learning how to control their movements under the strange conditions that they would find in outer space. Wearing their thick space suits, they learned to deal with conditions where there is neither weight nor gravity, neither "up" nor "down".

We do not realize how much we depend on the earth's gravity. When there is no gravity, our feet no longer stay on the ground. We float around in the air and the slightest touch may send us floating off in the opposite direction. 

In the laboratories where astronauts are trained for their journeys, the conditions are like those of flight. It takes time for them to prepare for the great changes that take place in space. When the spaceship leaves the earth at very high speed, the astronauts feel as if they are being crushed against the spaceship floor. Later, when they are far away from the earth and there is no more gravity, they find they are unable to stay in one place. Simple actions, such as eating and drinking, become very difficult. You may have some idea of what the astronauts have to deal with if you try to drink a glass of water while standing on your head or while just lying down.

Leonov and his companion, Beliaiev, began making preparations for the historic walk shortly after their flight began. Their spaceship was equipped with a double door, which was fitted with a bellows between the ship and the outside. This made it possible for the astronaut, in his space suit with oxygen supply, to go first from the air-filled ship to the bellows. Then the air was let out of the bellows. When the man then stepped outside, the air inside the ship remained at normal pressure. If the door had opened directly into space, the air in the ship would have rushed out and been lost when the door opened.

Leonov and his companion practised testing the doors several times after they had begun to circle around the earth. When the time came for Leonov to go out, his companion helped him fix the line that was to keep him from floating away from the ship. Then Leonov entered the bellows and the door closed behind him. As the air was let out of the bellows, his suit began to grow out, like a balloon, because of the air pressure inside. When there was no air left in the bellows, the outer door opened, and Leonov stepped out into the empty black space.

If the sky appears blue to us on earth, it is because the earth's atmosphere scatters a certain number of blue rays of sunlight. Out where there is no air, this phenomenon does not take place. On the earth, when the sun is up, our atmosphere diffuses light, making it seem to be everywhere. However, in the airless outer space, strong lights, such as the sun, can be seen side by side with a dark that is like the dark of the blackest night. The absence of air also explains why the stars do not seem to twinkle in space, as they do from the earth.

While Leonov was outside the ship, he kept in touch by telephone with his companion and with the earth. With his camera, he kept taking pictures of what he did and saw. When it was time for him to return to the ship, he was enjoying the scene so much that he was disappointed to have to stop his stroll in space so soon.