Photo Shows Astronaut Performing 1st Untethered Spacewalk?

On Oct. 14, 2024, an X account claimed a photo confirmed an astronaut performing the primary spacewalk with no security tether linked to a spacecraft.

“This iconic {photograph} continues to be thought of one of many most-terrifying area pictures thus far,” the caption learn, partly. The picture had been considered greater than 325,000 occasions, as of this writing.

The X account added that it confirmed Bruce McCandless II floating “utterly untethered in area with nothing however his Manned Maneuvering Unit holding him alive.”

This declare was, the truth is, true. McCandless was, certainly, the primary astronaut to carry out an untethered spacewalk on Feb. 7, 1984. The image was captured throughout the STS-41B shuttle mission that noticed the primary untethered spacewalks carried out by Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart, utilizing the manned maneuvering unit.

NASA’s Astronomy Image of the Day posted the unique photograph to its web site on Feb. 9, 2020. The caption learn:

Rationalization: What wouldn’t it be prefer to fly free in area? At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the area shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was residing the dream — floating farther out than anybody had ever been earlier than. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured, was floating free in area. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart have been the primary to expertise such an “untethered area stroll” throughout Area Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU labored by capturing jets of nitrogen and was used to assist deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, however, like every thing, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was later changed with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.

In 2022, Snopes examined an analogous {photograph} of McCandless; nevertheless, on that event the picture had been digitally altered to boost Earth’s snow-capped peaks to make it appear like he was floating over a mountain vary.

As a part of its 50-year celebration of spacewalking, NASA printed other photos of the primary untethered spacewalk. The one below, for instance confirmed McCandless “within the midst of the primary ‘area’ tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack gadget” — the MMU.

(NASA)

One other image confirmed astronaut Robert Stewart utilizing his arms to manage his motion in area whereas utilizing the MMU as a part of extravehicular exercise a number of meters from the cabin of the area shuttle Challenger.

“Stewart is centered in a background of clouds and Earth on this view of his EVA. He’s floating with out tethers attaching him to the Shuttle,” NASA wrote.

(NASA)

In 2023, Snopes additionally investigated a video broadly shared on social media that confirmed McCandless’ 1984 spacewalk. NASA shared the silent video of the stroll to YouTube on Dec. 22, 2017, with an outline that learn:

On Feb. 7, 1984, throughout the Area Shuttle Challenger’s STS-41B mission, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II made the primary, untethered, free flight spacewalk within the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

Snopes’ archives contributed to this report.

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