To Soar Free in Position

What would it is cherish to cruise free in field? At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the sphere shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II used to be residing the dream — floating farther out than any individual had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured, used to be floating free in field. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart had been the foremost to skills such an “untethered field stroll” throughout Position Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU labored by taking pictures jets of nitrogen and used to be worn to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, cherish the full lot, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU used to be later modified with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.