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Who made the world's first spacewalk, in March 1965?

Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

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  1. Alexei Leonov ✔
  2. Ed White
  3. Yuri Gagarin

Why: On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov floated out of an airlock on his Voskhod 2 spacecraft. Ed White made the first American spacewalk less than three months later.

Huh, didn't know that: The outside camera was not retrieved before the airlock was ejected, so its good-quality pictures were lost.

The dad joke
Why did Leonov step outside? He needed a breath of fresh space.
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References

Answer: Alexei Leonov. On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov floated out of an airlock on his Voskhod 2 spacecraft. Ed White made the first American spacewalk less than three months later.

  1. NASA, Space Station 20th: Spacewalking History www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-spacewalking-history
    on March 18, Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov took the world's first spacewalk
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  2. NASA StarChild, Alexei Leonov's Spacewalk starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/space_level2/leonov_spacewalk.html
    the camera mounted on the outside of Voskhod 2 could not be retrieved from the airlock, which was ejected before re-entry
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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