Hi,Steemit Uses today I want to talk about"the First Astronaut to fly freely in Space, Bruce McCandless died today at age 80"
There are many "firsts" in space other than Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon and Yuri Gagarin's first orbital flight. Less known to most is Alexey Leonov who was the first human to conduct an "EVA" (Extravehicular activity) in 1965 when he exited his spacecraft to perform a 12-minute long spacewalk.
Today is a day worth celebrating the accomplishment of another probably less known name in human spaceflight. In 1984, Bruce McCandless was the first human being to float freely in space without any attachment to his spacecraft (the Space Shuttle). Although you might not be familiar with his name, chances are good that you will have seen this image of him floating freely in space with our planet in the background.
Bruce McCandless using the Manned Manoeuvering Unit to roam freely in space during the STS-41-B Space Shuttle Mission in 1984*
Thursday night, NASA confirmed that at 80 years of age, McCandless had passed away. The cause of his death has not yet been stated. McCandless went to space twice in his astronaut career. Once in 1984 with Space Shuttle Challenger where he made the first-ever checkout of the Manned Maneuvering Unit, and a second time in 1990 with Space Shuttle Discovery where he helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. A record-setting 380 miles altitude for the Space Shuttle.
Needless to say, McCandless helped advance the space frontiers of the 20th century and should be remembered as one who pushed the boundaries of what was possible. I can think of no better quote than one from Neil deGrasse Tyson to describe how I feel today:
Quote by popular science and astrophysics writer and commentator Neil deGrasse Tyson
Whenever an astronaut or known person from a past era in space, passes away, it makes me stop to think if we're moving forward. Are we truly standing on the shoulders of these giants reaching further and further into the cosmos? Or are we losing a generation of talent without replacing it or expanding on it. As Elon Musk said in his speech at the IAC last year, people seem to take it for granted that technology always moves forward. In reality, that's not true. Without sufficiently educating the new generation, the knowledge of the past dies with it. Furthermore. it requires providing new sets of challenges for the current generation to explore and overcome for technologies and science to continue developing and advancing.
Time will have to tell, what is certain is that a pair of very large shoes has been left to be filled.
Author: NICHOLAS
