EXIT TO SPACE

To allow a cosmonaut to leave the pressurized spacecraft, Soviet engineers designed a flexible airlock attachment. Once inflated in orbit, the airlock became a tunnel for exiting and re-entering the spacecraft, which remained sealed. Aleksei Leonov trained for his spacewalk in this airlock. For American spacewalks, the spacecraft was completely depressurized and the hatch opened directly to space.

Manufacturer: Zvezda

Lent by The Perot Foundation

A SUIT FOR SPACE

The first man to walk in space almost became the first to die there. During his spacewalk, Aleksei Leonov's suit inflated more than expected, becoming rigid and too large to fit into the airlock. In this emergency, he had to vent some of the suit's precious air to reenter the spacecraft. Leonov used this Berkut ("Golden Eagle") pressure suit in training.

Manufacturer: Zvezda

Lent by The Perot Foundation

ARTIST IN ORBIT

Leonov devised a "bracelet" to keep a set of colored pencils handy, so he could sketch the view from space.

Lent by the Museum of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center, Star City, Russia