Voskhod Space Capsule
Cutaway diagram of Voskhod II illustrating Aleksei Leonov's spacewalk
Image scanned from Quest for Space by C. Bongiorno
Although the American Gemini program got off the ground before Voskhod, the Russians had yet another major victory in that they were the first to have a man "walk" in space without being inside a spacecraft. Aleksei Leonov had the distinction of being the first Terran to don a spacesuit and leave the comfort of his space ship, Voskhod II. Voskhod II was equipped with a revolutionary inflatable airlock attached to the outside of the ship which allowed Leonov to go outside while his copilot was still in "shirsleeves" inside the capsule.
The Voskhod series of space capsules were very similar in design to the Vostok series. The main difference was in size, allowing the Voskhod space ships to carry a crew of two, much like the Gemini capsules.
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