To honor the first space walks 50 years ago -- by Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and American astronaut Ed White -- the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. is presenting a new exhibit.
At the "Outside the Spacecraft: 50 Years of Extravehicular Activity" exhibit, museum visitors will be able to see the equipment and technology that allowed those early efforts to survive in the vacuum of space.
Successful space walks changed what was possible in human space exploration, paving the way for men to walk on the moon, service the Hubble Space Telescope and build the International Space Station, the museum explained.
Since the first space walks in 1965 by Leonov and White, more than 200 astronauts and cosmonauts have spent more than a thousand hours outside of various spacecraft.
It may have become routine, but it certainly wasn't at the start, said NASM exhibit curator Jennifer Levasseur.
"Even with the best technology available, these first few space walks didn't always go smoothly," she said. "We have to tell the story."
Difficulty was definitely the case for the first space walker, Leonov, when he exited his Voskhod 2 capsule on March 18, 1965.
As people in Russia watched on live television, Leonov suddenly discovered his spacesuit had ballooned so much in space that he was unable to re-enter his spacecraft. As Leonov struggled, Soviet officials suddenly cut off the live TV feed.
Finally, by venting almost half the air from his spacesuit, Leonov was able to squeeze back inside the two-man Voskhod 2.
In contrast to this, America's first space walk by Ed White on June 3, 1965, went smoothly, with White floating around outside the Gemini 4 spacecraft and using a compressed oxygen maneuvering "gun" to move around in space.
His EVA lasted 23 minutes, until he told ground controllers, "I'm coming back in ... and it's the saddest moment of my life."
White's gloves, camera, maneuvering gun and gold umbilical cord that linked him to the Gemini capsule are on display in the museum exhibit.
The public does not often get the chance to see such objects, Levasseur pointed out.
"Because it is a short-term exhibit and an anniversary, we can show some of these fragile and sensitive items that we don't always get to have on display," she said.
The exhibit also showcases photography, art, and personal accounts of space walks in addition to the artifacts on display.
"Outside the Spacecraft" will be at the NASM through June 8.
