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Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov dies

11 October 2019 15:39 (UTC +04:00)

The legendary Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the man who conducted the first-ever extravehicular activity, passed away at the age of 85, APA reports citing Sputnik.

Leonov's demise was confirmed by the Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center.

"Yes, unfortunately, it's true," a GCTC representative said.

Leonov's wife, however, did not comment on these reports, saying simply that "this isn't the time".

Born in 1934, Leonov became a member of the First Soviet cosmonaut team, along with 20 other Soviet Air Force pilots, including German Titov and Yuri Gagarin.

Leonov made history on 18, 1965, when he conducted the first extravehicular activity (EVA) in the history of mankind.

In 1975, he also took part in the historic Soyuz-Apollo spaceflight which put an end to the Space Race.