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29

Berkut Space Suit Arms & Legs Parts, Soviet Union, 1964-65

Currency:EUR Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,200.00 EUR Estimated At:1,920.00 - 2,400.00 EUR
Berkut Space Suit Arms & Legs Parts, Soviet Union, 1964-65
Nylon, cotton, rubber, metal, glass, plastic
Soviet Union, 1964 to 1965
Manufacturer: NPP Zvezda – Russian manufacturer of Life Support Systems for airplanes and manned space flight
Mission: Voskhod 2
Function: Intra-vehicular activity (IVA) and orbital Extra-vehicular activity (EVA)
Primary Life Support: 45 minutes
Four pieces: arms including gloves and knee pieces
Gloves numbered ‘?-9-N66’ left and ‘112 ?. 8 ½ M. N=36’ right
Leg pieces with CCCP and NPP Zvezda patches
Dimensions: max. approx. 24 x 70 x 24 cm (height x width x depth)
Good condition
Provenance: Collection Andora, Germany

The first space suit that enabled extra-vehicular activity; a Berkut suit was worn at the first walk on the moon on March 18, 1965 by the cosmonaut Alexey Leonov; one of the greatest achievements in the history of the early exploration of space



These are arms and leg parts of a Berkut (= golden eagle) space suit consisting of a white, ribbed nylon oversuit filled with insulating foil It is adorned with orange trim. There are leather pads at the knees. At both lower rims is Velcro for attaching the lower leg pieces. There are Velcro openings at the sides. The arms have got ribbed-knit cuffs. A pressure gauge is installed at the left arm. A mirror on an elastic wrist band is worn on the right arm, helping the wearer see things that would otherwise be outside his or her field of view.The arms are from a Berkut Suit but the leg parts are from an Orlan Suit. Here are also Velcro fasteners. Additionally, there are detachable white cotton knit gloves with rubberized palms and pads. The arm pieces still possess of the bottom suit, consisting of blue nylon with the original closures of metal, which are bolted with the shoulder parts of the suit. Life support was contained in a back pack, which ensured oxygen supply of 45 minutes extra-vehicular activity. The movement for the spacemen within the suit was at the time still restricted.



The Berkut space suit was developed for the first walk on the moon on March 18, 1965 by the cosmonaut Alexey Leonov as a part of Voskhod 2 mission. The suit realized the dream of extra-vehicular activities. The manufacturer was the Russian company NPP Zvezda. It was a modified version of the SK-1 suit, which was exclusively worn by the Voskhod 2 mission. The suit had to fulfill the special conditions of space; the space suit had to be flexible enough, so that the cosmonaut could pass through the long tube of the airlock, while at the same time it has to guarantee the entire oxygen supply and thermal protection needed in unprotected space. It was the first time that a space suit was exposed to the real space conditions. The emergency depressurization of the previous space suits had been replaced. Further, the engineers had developed the first Life Support System that allowed the spacemen for at least a few minutes to operate entirely independent from the spacecraft.



The gloves are numbered ‘?-9-N66’ left and ‘112 ?. 8 ½ M. N=36’ right. The leg pieces bear CCCP and NPP Zvezda patches. These inventory numbers testify the use at training units of the suit pieces. The pieces are in used condition. At the arms is heavier staining and the cuffs are torn. The leather pad of one of the knees is missing. The dimensions are max. approximately 24 x 70 x 24 cm (height x width x depth).
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