alexey leonov stepped out of his spaceship in to outer space.e is a robust 80-year-old who remembers every second of his mission. >> translator: i heard how my heart was pumping. i could hear myself breathe. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: it was an extraordinary achievement in the middle of a space race, yet again the soviets had bested the americans. >> nbc news presents "man walks in space". >> reporter: in a glass case at the smithsonian air and space museum, a replica of the suit and helmet alexey leonov wore that day. today we take spacewalks for granted, but 50 years ago this had never been done before. it was risky and he almost and alexey leonov almost didn't survive. in the vacuum of space his suit suddenly ballooned. if he didn't release the air pressure, he would never get back in the spaceship. >> translator: something needed to happen. so kwhawhat should i do? what should i have done? dropped the pressure. >> reporter: he managed to get back inside, but then on reentry, the ship landed hundreds of miles off course, in a remote sno

alexei leonov is a hero in space exploration because of a feat 50 years ago.he had spent 12 minutes outside of the capsule orbiting earth was a huge deal not just for russians but for people around the world. half a century later he remembers the political pressure as well as the technical challenges that he faced. >> what i remember is unusual silence. i heard my heart beating. i heard myself breathing which never happened before, and at that moment someone calls me and says alexei, how are you? we the members of the politburo are gathered here, and we can see you tumbling there. we ask you to be cautious. we're waiting for you. come back. >> leonov's spacewalk almost ended in tragedy. his space suit inflated, and he could not get back into the spacecraft. at great risk he let out some of the oxygen, and it worked. in october 1957 the soviet union launched the first satellite sputnik into space. sputnik two took the first animal into orbit. in 1961 saw the first human space flight taking yuri gagarin a household name around the world. gagarin is a space pierr

. >> three months after alexei leonov's spacewalk an american took the walk. they are now commonplace, but no less incredible. >> it is dreamlike. it is such a different environment for the senses. it seems unreal. >> the technology in this exhibition gives shape to that dream and makes walking in real for earthbound explorers. jane o'brien. bbc news. washington. katty: now from the exploration of space to a mystery on earth. the burning question. why do penguins waddle? a team of scientists are looking in the lung when -- are looking in the london zoo. rebecca morel reports for us. rebecca: getting around if you are a penguin is not easy. with their tiny legs and stiff posture, it is a little ungainly . at london zoo scientists are trying to shed light on what lies behind the waddle. the pink ones are being put to the test. the idea is to -- the pink ones are being put to the test. the idea is to lure them over this. with a bit of encouragement success. >> we are hoping to find out how penguins use their legs. they are applying forces left and right as they s

first space walk, by soviet cosmonaut alexei leonov.pace walk two and a half months later. thursday is "companies that compare day." it's an annual event supporting the well being of employees and communities. this year's focus, childhood literacy. friday is the first day of spring. and it's day one for the national cherry blossom festival in washington. saturday sees the knight anniversary of the very first tweet by twitter founder jack door see. today twitter reports more than 500 million tweets a day. as for right now we turn to bob schieffer in washington for look what's ahead on "face the nation." good morning, bob. >> schieffer: good morning jane we'll talk to secretary of state john kerry and arkansas freshman senator tom cotton about that letter he wrote to the iranian leaders which some think may that have thrown the whole talks off the rails jon bob schieffer, thank you. next week here on "sunday morning." >> why did you want this part? >> anthony mason. >> i never read anything like it. >> on the final chapter of "mad men." i

alexei, how are you? we, members of the politburo are gathered here and we can see you tumbling there. we ask you to be cautious. we're waiting for you. come back. >> leonov's spacewalk almost ended in tragedy. his space suit inflated, and he could not get back into the spacecraft. he let out some of the oxygen, and it work: moscow was able to boast another space first. the soviet union launched the first satellite called sputnik into space. and sputnik two took the first animal into space. and then 1961, the first human space flight making gagari's a household name. experts say than leonov was very important. >> if the soviets had gotten to the moon, he would have been the first to walk on the moon. he flew the mission where he and tom stafford from nasa went and shook manslaughter orbit. he went on to become the codirector of the facility just outside of moscow. he is a tremendous elaborate elableader. >> al jazeera. >> magnificent set of storms have lit up the skies from nulled to the arctic new zealand to the arctic. northern lights in the united states particularly bright. a deep green glow, and then the aurora australiaus painting the skies pink and p

alexei, how are you? we the members of the politburo politburo, are gathered here and can see you tumbling there. we ask you to be cautious. we're waiting for you. come back. >> leonov's spacewalk almost ended in tragedy. his space suit inflated, and he could not get back in the spacecraft. at great risk he let out some of the oxygen, and it worked. in october 1957 the soviet unity launched the first satellite sputnik into space. sputnik two took the first animal in space. in 1961 saw the first human space flight making gagarin a household name across the world. the first american as astronauts landed on the moon in 1969. but >> they flew the apollo mission when he and tom stafford shook hands in orbit. then he went on to the codirector of the cosmonaut straining facility just outside of moscow. he's a tremendously important figure. he cut the ribbon for the building honor space heroes. >> a deep green glow fell over the landscape in arctic circle, storms of this size can effect gps but no damage was reported. in the southern hemisphere pinks and purple painted the skies over christchurch. >> this herd seems very relaxed in the game reserve. thousands of people visit