Forty years ago, the first untethered spacewalk produced one of the most iconic images in the history of space exploration.
The photo shows astronaut Bruce McCandless II floating untethered outside the Challenger spacecraft. Image: NASA
On February 7, 2, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II wearing a hand-controlled backpack and propelled by a nitrogen gas engine flew out of the payload bay of the space shuttle Challenger, according to Live Science. He flew 98 meters away from the spacecraft, becoming the first person to attempt a space walk without a seat belt. McCandless orbited the Earth as the first human satellite in 1 hour and 22 minutes.
“It may have been a small step for Neil but it was a big step for me,” McCandless shared about his solo flight around the Earth.
This moment was immortalized thanks to Robert “Hoot” Gibson, pilot of the Challenger. He used a Hasselblad camera to capture the moment McCandless flew alone above Earth. It is the most famous photo of the entire space shuttle program.
Even though the photo wasn't planned, Gibson immediately knew it would be famous, so he adjusted three brightness and focus parameters four times with the photo, according to NASA. He even tilted the camera to ensure the horizon was horizontal in the photo.
McCandless served as NASA mission control liaison for Apollo 11 in 1969 and Apollo 14 in 1971. His second and final flight took place in April 4 on the STS-1990 mission. to deploy the Hubble space telescope in Earth orbit from the payload bay of the space shuttle Discovery. He passed away in 31 at the age of 2017. His backpack is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
An Khang (Follow Live Science)
