The day Alexey Leonov became the first man to leave a rocket and brave outer space in
1965, he became the author’s - then a teenager - hero. Meeting Leonov for the first time
on March 9, 2008, the author asks how this Major-General of aviation, this twice-decorated
hero of the Soviet Union, was able to surf the wave of a change in political regime and make
a seamless transition into today’s Russia.