Alexei Leonov: 1934 – 2019

A remarkable life. Cosmonaut, Air Force General and also a painter. The first human, 54 odd years ago, to walk in space. His father was arrested during the Stalinist purges, yet he went on to be selected as the first cosmonaut to land on the Moon, only for the project to be cancelled in the wake of the successful US landings. But he did command the joint US-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz mission (A weird side note…the assassination attempt on Brezhnev in 1969.).

For science fiction fans his name will be associated as well with the Soviet spaceship in 2010: Odyssey Two. But he co-wrote a script for an SF film in 1980.

And as wiki notes ins respect of his legacy:

The Leonov crater, near Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow) on the far side of the Moon, was named after Leonov in 1970.[19]
Arthur C. Clarke’s 1982 novel 2010: Odyssey Two was dedicated to Leonov and Andrei Sakharov;[20] and the fictional spaceship in the book, the Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, was named after him.[21]
Leonov, along with Rusty Schweickart, established the Association of Space Explorers in 1985. Membership is open to all people who have flown in outer space.[22]
The film The Age of Pioneers (2017) is based on Leonov’s account about the Voskhod-2 mission. Leonov was portrayed by Yevgeny Mironov.[23]
The song “E.V.A” by Public Service Broadcasting on their 2015 album, The Race for Space, references Leonov becoming the first man to undertake Extra-Vehicular Activity in space.[24]

Not too shabby at all.