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Aleksey Leonov walking in space. NASA.

The Soviets actually beat us Americans to spacewalking. On March 18, 1965, Aleksey Leonov became the first human to walk in space.

Ed White, the first American to walk in space, hangs out in space during the Gemini 4 mission. He's attached to the craft by both umbilical and tether lines. Photo: NASA.

Ed White, the first American to walk in space, hangs out in space during the Gemini 4 mission.

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Rusty Schweickart stands outside Apollo 9's Lunar Module

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Bruce McCandless II took the first untethered space walk back in February 1984.

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Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers, and Pierre Thuot hold on to the 4.5 ton INTELSAT VI communications satellite during a 1992 mission.

Kathy Thornton prepares to send a broken solar panel from Hubble plunging towards Earth and incineration. Astronauts successfully replaced the damaged panel back in 1993. Photo: NASA.

Kathy Thornton prepares to send a broken solar panel from Hubble plunging towards atmospheric incineration.

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G. David Low practiced handling heavy stuff in space by using Peter J.K. Wisoff as a stand-in for Hubble components.

G. David Low practiced handling heavy stuff in space by using Peter J.K. Wisoff as a stand-in for Hubble components in 1993.

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Carl Meade and Mark Lee (right) rehearse spacewalk contingency plans in 1994.

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When a piece of the International Space Station's solar array was torn in November 2007, astronaut Scott Parazynski took a ride on the station's robotic arm to patch up the live electrical panel.