FLY ON: To the stars, Bruce McCandless. Eighty years on Earth and now to infinity and beyond.
The first NASA astronaut to fly untethered (see above), McCandless said, " May well have been one small step for Neil, but it’s a heck of a big leap for me!”
It was Feb. 7, 1984, when McCandless II became the first “human satellite” when he tested the Manned Maneuvering Unit during STS-41B.
In the amazing and iconic photo above, McCandless is seen floating against the blackness of space, 320 feet from orbiter Challenger. He's floating 217 miles (350 km) above Earth!
In the photo, the former U.S. Navy captian McCandless is propelled via 24 small nitrogen-powered thrusters. McCandless was instrumental in developing the Manned Maneuvering Unit he's operating. Pretty freaking awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment