Space
Spacewalk Without A Tether
Updated Apr 4, 2019
Science fiction? In 1984, Bruce McCandless made the first untethered spacewalk.
Astronaut Bruce McCandless made history in 1990 when he, from the Space Shuttle, helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. Even more historical are the photos of him taken six years earlier, when he made the first ever spacewalk without being attached with a safety line.
Bruce "flew" with a jet pack for space called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). The MMU was only used a few times before it was deemed unnecessarily risky.[1] It was followed by a smaller version - the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER)[2] - which an astronaut wears today as a "life vest" when performing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS).
"It may have been a small step for Neil, but it's a heck of a big leap for me", Bruce McCandless said during his spacewalk.[3]
Bruce "flew" to a distance of 100 m (320 ft) from the shuttle.[4]
References
[1]
Millbrooke, Anne. "'More Favored than the Birds': The Manned Maneuvering
Unit in Space". NASA. Retrieved Apr 4, 2019.
[2]
"A SAFER Way to Space Walk". NASA. Published Feb 27, 2004. Retrieved Apr 4, 2019.
[3]
"NASA Remembers Astronaut Bruce McCandless II". NASA. Published Dec 22, 2017. Retrieved Apr 4, 2019.
[4]
"McCandless Orbits in Jetpack". NASA. Published Nov 7, 2011. Retrieved Apr 4, 2019.
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