Alekséi Arjípovich Leónov is a Russian cosmonaut who made the first spacewalk on March 18, 1965. He was one of twenty pilots from the Soviet Air Force selected to be part of the first group of cosmonauts in 1960. Like all Soviet cosmonauts, Leónov was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Another of his significant achievements was serving as the Russian commander of the first joint Apollo-Soyuz mission. This was the costume design for that mission. Leónov outperformed astronaut Ed White, becoming the first man to go into space. The Voskhod capsule carried two men into space, similar to the American Gemini capsule.

There were moments of tension when Leónov, once in space, tried to return to the capsule. The swollen suit did not allow him to re-enter the capsule. He had to deflate it, losing pressure and putting his life at risk.