This iconic photograph is still considered one of the most-terrifying space photos to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II NASA STS-41B Mission, February 1984, became the first human being to perform spacewalk without a safety tether linked to a spacecraft. He floated completely untethered in space
https://i.redd.it/jqf9tmj8jbig1.jpeg
28 Comments
Wall-e taught us to always bring a fire extinguisher.
Why do they call it a spacewalk? It’s more of a spacefloat.
What was the backup plan? Did they have a tether and somebody suited up ready to go out and snag him?
Nevertheless, if some failure somehow jetted him off in some direction he couldn’t stop I guess that would be it.
Kinda wish he’d been waving at the camera.
During that mission the earth revolved around his massive balls.
“Floating” aka hurtling through space at 17000 mph
I wouldn’t strap myself into the giant explosive death trap required to get those people into orbit in the first place. Some people’s risk tolerance is off the charts.
Why was MMU abandoned after a couple of flights? Why they don’t use it on ISS?
Amazing and terrifying. So much trust in the equipment.
Dude was like, byyyyyyyyyyyyye
Ground control to Major Tom…
This guy is a tough guy!! He’s a badass.
Floating untethered is easy. It’s getting back safely that’s the crux.
I don’t know if it’s this space walk or the couple times they did it on Apollo 40,000 miles from the moon and 200,000 miles from Earth! Granted the Apollo they were connected but that is a long way from anything!
I’ve always considered this to be the bravest mission of aviation history. I never understood why it never carried the fame of other feats.
Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|[CC](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4bh3cc “Last usage”)|Commercial Crew program|
| |Capsule Communicator (ground support)|
|[EMU](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4av0dl “Last usage”)|Extravehicular Mobility Unit (spacesuit)|
|[EVA](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4au7fd “Last usage”)|Extra-Vehicular Activity|
|[MMU](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4bmqov “Last usage”)|[Manned Maneuvering Unit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Maneuvering_Unit), untethered spacesuit propulsion equipment|
|[OMS](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4b7opc “Last usage”)|Orbital Maneuvering System|
|[RCS](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4az4oe “Last usage”)|Reaction Control System|
|[RTLS](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4bay4c “Last usage”)|Return to Launch Site|
|[SAFER](/r/Space/comments/1qzhi8m/stub/o4bmqov “Last usage”)|[Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Aid_For_EVA_Rescue)|
|STS|Space Transportation System (*Shuttle*)|
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What’s the big deal? Every 90 mins you’re only a few miles from home! /s
Iirc he couldn’t bring himself to turn around in the direction, away from the shuttle. He felt compelled to keep it in view at all times, otherwise too scary
Love it! Thankfully motion in space is very predictable. Unlike on earth, there a very few forces that can occur suddenly (if any, can’t think right now, drag?). From what I remember, they were testing a jetpack(forgot it’s actual name, sorry) to maneuver in space. Photo was taken from the space shuttle which would be capable of taxiing back to him if necessary. The image don’t show all the precautions that were in place, really cool regardless!
He should have changed his name to Bruce McTetherless.
This looks exactly like the opposite of claustrophobia.
How did they fit his gigantic balls in the space suit?
Badass dude.
Fine, if I have to say it again so I hit 25 characters I will.
That’s a badass dude.
I’m afraid of heights, but I wonder if at that point your mind even registers it as such.
I can’t even imagine just sitting there orbiting above the planet at around 28,000 km/h
I miss the 80’s. Fuck, at this point I miss the USSR.
McCandless was in the same group (5) of astronauts as Apollo and Skylab astronauts Vance Brand, Gerald Carr, Charlie Duke, Fred Haise, Jim Irwin, Jack Lousma, Ken Mattingly, Ed Mitchell, Bill Pogue, Stu Roosa, Jack Swigert, Paul Weitz, and Al Worden.
You have heard his voice as CAPCOM on Apollo 11.
This flight in 1984, the untethered MMU test, was his first trip to space.