First Time

The Age of Pioneers (, lit. "Time of the first ones"), also known as Spacewalk or The Spacewalker, is a Russian historical drama film about cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to perform a spacewalk. Leonov himself served as a consultant for the film. The Age of Pioneers was directed by Dmitry Kiselyov and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Yevgeny Mironov, the latter also starred in the leading role. The Age of Pioneers was released on April 6, 2017, to widespread critical praise in Russia. The movie grossed RUB 561 million in Russia against a 400 million budget, and is considered a box-office bomb. Plot The film is set in the 1960s, during the Cold War and the Space Race between Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviets plan to send a man into space. During the construction of the craft, a technician is killed and the engineers question the safety of the craft. The Kosmos 57 test vehicle, representing the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, breaks up in flight two weeks before the planned launch and Soviet engineers cannot identify the causes of the explosion and sudden loss of communication. Ex-WW2 pilot Pavel Belyayev and military test pilot Alexei Leonov are called to man the craft, but during a skydive Pavel injures his leg landing and is considered unfit. He is replaced by a new, young, and inexperienced cosmonaut (Yevgeny Khrunov), much to the Alexei's dismay. Fueled by anger and determination, Pavel recovers through training and eventually is re-admitted, delighting Alexei. The Voskhod 2 launches, and Alexei makes a spacewalk. It is initially successful and the country celebrates, but Alexei's suit over-inflates, rendering him clumsy and unable to enter the airlock. The ship loses communication with ground control when it enters a dead zone. Alexei defies standing procedure and enters the airlock head first but the outer hatch fails to fully close automatically. He semi deflates his suit and turns within the airlock in order to close the hatch but, as a result, his oxygen runs out and he passes out. Pavel drags him into the pod and succeeds in reviving him. The two are instructed to orbit for 22 hours until Cycle 4 when an automatic system will land them. Pavel detaches the craft from the airlock, causing the Voskhod 2 to spin. Before Cycle 4, Pavel and Alexei feel queasy and find that the oxygen pressure is rising dangerously. Ground control states that the system detected a minor leak and began pumping pure oxygen in response.