followWen | Nian Xiao NuanEditor | Zhao Xue Xia Yu GuanOn October 15, 2003, China's "Shenzhou-5" manned spacecraft was successfully launched into space, and the astronaut carrying out the mission was 38 year old Yang Liwei, who was also the first generation of astronauts trained by China.However, what is little-known is that when Yang Liwei went into space, he carried a pistol among his belongings

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Wen | Nian Xiao Nuan

Editor | Zhao Xue Xia Yu Guan

On October 15, 2003, China's "Shenzhou-5" manned spacecraft was successfully launched into space, and the astronaut carrying out the mission was 38 year old Yang Liwei, who was also the first generation of astronauts trained by China.

However, what is little-known is that when Yang Liwei went into space, he carried a pistol among his belongings.

This can't help but raise doubts. Yang Liwei is going to explore space, not to engage in combat. Why should he bring a gun? What is he afraid of?

US Soviet Space Race

If you want to know why Yang Liwei's actions are so peculiar, you need to start with the experience of an astronaut from the former Soviet Union. It is precisely because of that lesson that astronauts have since had the saying of "going to space with guns".

In 2019, former Soviet astronaut Alexei Leonov passed away due to illness, causing infinite sorrow to the world. He was the once sensational "first person to walk in space" and twice won the glorious title of "Soviet hero".

It can be said that Leonov left a profound mark in the history of human space, and Russian President Putin also highly praised:He is a true pioneer, a strong and brave person

However, what makes people infinitely moved is that behind Leonov's glory and glory, there are also risks and crises, and he has thus become a quite legendary figure.

In the late 1950s to early 1970s, the United States and the Soviet Union were in a period of cold war. At that time, without direct confrontation, the two sides engaged in an unprecedented space war, which directly became a landmark event.

At first, the Soviet Union was far ahead of the United States in exploration and innovation in the field of space.

In 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial Earth satellite into space; In 1959, the Soviet Union successfully launched its first unmanned lunar exploration spacecraft; In 1961, Soviet astronaut Gagarin also made his first spaceflight in a spacecraft.

Seeing the Soviet Union take the lead and create several "firsts," the United States decided to quickly catch up, and thus the epoch-making technological project in human history, the "Apollo" program, was born.

The Apollo program is actually the "manned lunar landing flight program," and it is also the most thrilling program in NASA's history.

After learning about it, the Soviet Union was also unwilling to fall behind. Its scientist Korolev led a team that did a lot of homework specifically for the country's "lunar landing plan". In 1963, he also established the first astronaut lunar landing team led by Gagarin.

However, the sky did not meet people's wishes, and in 1966, Korolev suddenly passed away, causing the Soviet space industry to encounter Waterloo in an instant, ultimately leading to failure in the lunar race.

However, the Soviet Union did not sink as a result. Despite falling behind in the development of lunar rockets, in order to quickly restore the situation, the Soviet authorities placed hope in the "Ascendant" spacecraft, which created the heroic figure Alexei Leonov.

However, this legendary astronaut, who walked out of space for the first time in human history, went through a difficult journey of almost death. What happened?

The first person to walk in space

On March 18, 1965, Leonov and another astronaut entered space aboard the "Ascension 2" spacecraft. However, to his surprise, his first dream journey encountered unimaginable danger and almost turned into a disaster. It was not until many years later that when he remembered it again, he still had lingering fears.

Leonov was born in a small city in Russia in 1934. He has been fond of science fiction since childhood and has always had a strong desire and longing for space exploration.

As a result, when the aerospace department recruited astronauts, Leonov did not hesitate to register and quickly passed the test due to his strong personal conditions.

It should be noted that when astronauts leave the spacecraft in space, it is not as simple as opening the door and taking a step outside. They need to pass through an air lock chamber, also known as a transition chamber, and after the air lock chamber is depressurized, the pressure inside and outside the chamber reaches the same level before entering space. However, the Soviet Union did not do enough in this regard.

At first, the Soviet Space Agency conducted launch tests on an unmanned test spacecraft with an airlock module. However, when the spacecraft returned, it suddenly exploded, causing it to shatter to pieces, and many precious data were also lost together.

Subsequently, the space agency conducted another spacecraft test, but the result still ended in failure. In desperation, its designers put all their eggs in one basket and proposed the early launch of the "Ascending 2" spacecraft, which was quickly approved.

It can be said that the Soviet Union was in such a hurry to ascend to the sky quickly, although it was to win in the competition, it was actually a huge adventure. At that time, scientist Korolev solemnly said to Leonov, "We currently have no data or experience, everything depends on you, and we must adapt to the situation

And Leonov also replied with a mentality of "success or failure": "I am in good condition and have undergone all necessary training, so there should be no problem

In fact, Leonov was also very nervous in an uncertain situation, but he took the "Ascension 2" spacecraft into space without hesitation, pioneering human spacewalking with a fearless spirit.

At 10:00 am on March 18th, the "Ascending 2" spacecraft successfully launched into space and soon entered the established orbit to begin free flight.

After an hour and a half, Leonov was ready to leave the cabin. He was wearing a spacesuit and a helmet, pushing the hatch with an extremely nervous and excited mood. However, before he could react, his entire body exhaled and popped out like a cork on a water bottle.

At that time, the spacecraft was spinning, and Leonov's body also began to spin. Fortunately, after several rounds of somersaults, he was finally entangled in his seat belt and finally stopped spinning.

After Leonov calmed down, he fixed his eyes and saw the beautiful and vast universe before his eyes. He was immediately stunned and felt a wonderful sight he had never seen before.

The scene was simply too spectacular, with stars all over the sky quietly, the sun seemingly blending into the black sky curtain, and the earth spinning aloneYears later, he still remembered the scenes he saw in space.

In fact, Leonov could have stayed outside the cabin for about 45 minutes. However, after only a few minutes, he suddenly felt his heart rate go wrong and he was nervous and sweating. In case something unexpected happened, he had to end his brief spacewalk and prepare to return to the cabin door. However, at this time, an accident occurred

Adventures abound in space travel

Leonov realized his dream for many years and became the first person in history to walk in space. Unfortunately, due to a sudden physical condition, he had to end his journey early and return to the module, but he found it impossible to enter.

The space suit has four buttons at the waist, each of which can release a quarter of the air inside the suit

In this way, Leonov attempted to open each valve in the spacesuit to relieve pressure, but at the same time, he also faced the risk of dying from lack of oxygen.

Fortunately, there was no danger, and Leonov successfully entered the cabin door. However, due to being too nervous, 6 liters of sweat had already accumulated in his boots.

In this way, Leonov's first spacewalk ended in a thrilling and thrilling moment, but what he didn't expect was that the following danger was even more thrilling, as the spacecraft's automatic navigation and positioning system malfunctioned again during its return journey.

Fortunately, due to the captain's previous preset, he did not despair and decided to land manually. However, due to excessive nervousness, the manual operation unexpectedly made a mistake.

The "Ascending 2" spacecraft roared down, deviating extremely from the scheduled landing point by 300 kilometers, and finally landed in the snowy virgin forest of the Ural Mountains. At this moment, a thrilling scene reappeared.

At that time, Leonov and his partner struggled to climb out of the cabin door. They set up the antenna and began to send out a distress signal, but due to being too far away from the command center, they delayed receiving a response.

So in an anxious and helpless situation, the two of them endured hunger and fatigue like that and spent an extremely cold and terrifying night.

Especially in the middle of the night, wild bears and wolves appeared from time to time, making a terrifying sound. The two of them trembled all night, and Leonov was also very frustrated. The numerous dangerous situations that followed forced him to start doubting life.

However, this time there was still no danger. After 26 hours and 2 minutes, the perilous space trip finally came to an end. The next day, ground search and rescue personnel found them and successfully sent them back to their base camp.

After the shocking incident in the Soviet Union, China learned from this experience and believed that equipping astronauts with handguns to go into space was also a top priority. Therefore, when astronaut Yang Liwei took off in a spacecraft, he brought a handgun with him to deal with unexpected situations.

58 years ago, Leonov bravely stepped out of the cabin door and entered the vast space, realizing humanity's dream of walking in space. However, when people recall his great feat again, they not only respect the astronauts. Because behind their selfless dedication of that great moment, there was actually an incredibly difficult interweaving of life and death.

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