R.I.P. Bruce Mc Candless

[MarkH]

A really sad event ....the death of Bruce  Mc Candless, one of the original Apollo astronauts this week. The first man to float completely free with an immu that legendary inmage of him floating free without a tether is historical.

[Rick]

In 1984 the astronaut Bruce McCandless, who has died aged 80, took the world's breath away by becoming the first person to make an untethered spacewalk. Using a backpack equipped with nitrogen thrusters to move himself around, McCandless floated free in the void from the space shuttle Challenger for around four hours before returning to his colleagues inside. The main aim of the nine-day mission had been to release two communications satellites, and the spacewalk, while scientifically relevant, was really just icing on the cake. Nevertheless it was a vision of the ultimate, triumphant existentialist.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/29/bruce-mccandless-obituary