Auction Name: 2025 December 11 - 12 Space Exploration Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 50032

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6326*50032

Alexei Leonov: Handwritten and Signed Report on the First Human Spacewalk aboard Voskhod 2, March 18-19, 1965 [with] Signed Printed Copy of a Similar Report. A two-page 8.5" x 11" Cyrillic handwritten report in blue ink by Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, written after the Voskhod-2 mission. In this official style debrief, Leonov summarizes the flight objectives, his historic extravehicular activity (EVA), and the technical and physical challenges encountered outside the spacecraft.

Leonov details his exit through the inflatable airlock, his observations of Earth from orbit, and the difficulty re-entering the spacecraft due to the overinflated Berkut spacesuit, an event that nearly ended in disaster. He reports maintaining stable communications throughout, successfully completing the EVA in 10 minutes and 20 seconds, and landing safely (though far off-target) 535 kilometers from the intended recovery zone. The second page provides formal mission conclusions, affirming that the suit and airlock systems functioned reliably and that a human could perform independent operations in open space for an extended period. The report concludes with Leonov's signature and rank: "Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR, Lieutenant Colonel A. Leonov." View a full translation on our website. Excellent.

Also included in the lot is an 8.25" x 11.625" photocopy of Leonov's mission description as it appears in the official FAI report (in this sale), signed at lower edge.

This is a seminal firsthand account of humankind's first spacewalk (EVA), written by the man who performed it. Leonov's concise yet vivid language captures both the technical precision and the courage behind one of the Cold War's defining moments. Such original handwritten material from Leonov relating directly to the Voskhod-2 flight is of the utmost rarity and historical importance, marking the birth of extravehicular human space activity. From an important collection of Soviet-era Space history

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