Neil: ... and I'm Neil. Hello.

Rob: Hello, Neil! I watched that space movie last night,

the one where those astronauts are stranded in space.

Neil: Stranded means stuck in a place with only a small chance of leaving.

Gravity, that was the name of the film?

Rob: That's the one. And this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first ever space walk.

On 18th March 1965 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first man to drift free in space

500km from the surface of Earth.

And that's the subject of today's show!

Neil: What on earth must he have felt like?

Rob: Ah ha! Exactly. It would have felt like nothing on earth

and that's to say, very strange indeed.

He was the first person to experience the colourful geography of our planet stretched out before him.

Neil: Very poetic, Rob! But how about answering today's quiz question:

How long did the first space walk last? Was it... a) 2 minutes?

b) 12 minutes?

or c) 22 minutes?

Rob: Hmm. All quite short so I think I'll go for the one in the middle ─ 12 minutes.

Neil: We'll find out if you're right or wrong later on.

Now, 'cosmonaut' literally means 'sailor of the universe'.

But Leonov's mission wasn't plain sailing ─ in other words, it wasn't easy or straightforward.

Rob: That's right. No one had ever gone out into space before it was unknown territory

unknown territory means a place or activity that people do not know anything about or have not experienced before.

And as it happens, there were big problems.

Neil: When Leonov left the capsule his spacesuit inflated

or swelled up ─ like a balloon because the pressure inside the suit was greater than outside.

This made it impossible for Leonov to get back through the door of the spacecraft,

putting him in a life-threatening situation.

Rob: Let's listen to Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, talking about it.

Helen Sharman: So he decreases the pressure of his suit,

which means that it's a bit more able to move inside it

but it means the amount of oxygen he's got around his face is now dangerously low

so he can't cope with that for very long.

So if he's not able to get in quickly, he's going to die of oxygen starvation, um

[inaudiable]

so he had the presence of mind to get on with all of this,

got back in, swivelled himself round, managed to close the airlock,

and then when the pressure was equilibrated was finally able to, you know, hug his compatriot up there in space.

Neil: Now, if you can't cope with something it means you are unable to deal successfully with a difficult situation.

And here the situation was having very little oxygen.

Rob: But Leonov had the presence of mind to find a solution.

Presence of mind means being able to react quickly and stay calm in a difficult or dangerous situation.

Neil: And if I was in Leonov's shoes

meaning if I was in his situation ─ I would have panicked big time!

Rob: And there was plenty more to panic about before the mission was over.

The spacecraft's automatic re-entry system failed so the cosmonauts had to fire the rockets manually

meaning controlled by hand ─ which they had never done before.

Neil: And that's not all. Their capsule failed to detach

or separate ─ from the spacecraft's equipment module,

and this sent them tumbling through space towards Earth.

Rob: But the capsule did finally detach.

And then you would think they'd have been home and dry, wouldn't you?

Home and dry means being close to achieving a goal.

Neil: Well, they certainly weren't dry. The capsule touched down or landed

hundreds of kilometres off course in freezing Siberia populated only by wolves and bears.

Leonov had sweated so much on the space walk that his boots were filled with water up to his knees!

Both cosmonauts had to wring out

or twist and squeeze ─ their clothes to avoid frostbite.

Rob: And off course, by the way, means not following the right route.

Those men must have been overjoyed when they were finally airlifted to safety two days later!

Neil: But what seems unfair to me is, we all know about the Apollo moon landing,

but how many of us know about the first space walk?

Rob: Well, at least we do now, and of course our listeners do too!

Neil: OK, let's have the answer to the quiz question.

I asked: How long did the first space walk last? Was it ... a) 2 minutes

b) 12 minutes

or c) 22 minutes?

Rob: I said a) 12 minutes.

Neil: And you were right!

Rob: Excellent. Good! So 12 minutes eh?

What an amazing short stroll that must have been but a very historic one too.

Neil: Well done. Now, can we hear today's words again please?

Rob: OK. We heard:

stranded

like nothing on earth

plain sailing

unknown territory

inflated

can't cope with something

presence of mind

in Leonov's shoes

manually

detach

home and dry

touched down

wring out

off course

Neil: Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English.

We thought it was out of this world ─ hope you thought so too! Please join us again soon.