Alexey Leonov performed the first spacewalk during the Soviet Union’s Voskhod 2 mission on 18 March 1965. He left the spacecraft through an inflatable airlock and spent about 12 minutes outside, connected to the vehicle by a safety tether.
Leonov’s spacesuit inflated in the vacuum of space, making it difficult for him to re-enter the airlock. He reduced the suit’s internal pressure to regain enough mobility, an action that carried serious risk. The crew also faced problems during re-entry and landed far from the planned recovery area.
Ed White became the first American to perform a spacewalk later in 1965 during Gemini 4. A spacewalk is formally called an extravehicular activity, or EVA. Leonov later commanded the Soviet side of the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.