NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II died at the age of 80 on Thursday in California; McCandless is seen here aboard the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990
The first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died at the age of 80.
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II died on Thursday in California, NASA’s Johnson Space Center announced Friday. No cause of death was given.
McCandless was famously photographed in 1984 flying with a hefty spacewalker’s jetpack, alone in the cosmic blackness above Earth, while becoming the very first astronaut to fly unattached to this spacecraft in a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
He traveled more than 300 feet away from the space shuttle Challenger during that historic spacewalk.
McCandless said he was not nervous about the mission, and the he was ‘grossly over-trained.’
‘I was just anxious to get out there and fly. I felt very comfortable,’ he told the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo., in 2006.
McCandless was famously photographed in Feb. 1984 at age 47 flying with a hefty spacewalker’s jetpack, unattached to this spacecraft in a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU)
While making history, the retired US Navy Captain was also making jokes.
‘My wife [Bernice] was at mission control, and there was quite a bit of apprehension,’ he wrote in 2015.
‘I wanted to say something similar to Neil [Armstrong] when he landed on the moon, so I said, “It may have been a small step for Neil, but it’s a heck of a big leap for me.” That loosened the tension a bit’
McCandless is seen her with STS-41B crew members; Front (L-R): Vance’ D. Brand; Robert Gibson; Back (L-R); BACK L-R: Robert Stewart; Ronald McNair; Bruce McCandless
McCandless is seen here, wearing a Shuttle Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Suit with Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) in Houston in 1982
McCandless helped develop the jetpack and was later part of the shuttle crew that delivered the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit.
He also served as the Mission Control capsule communicator in Houston as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in 1969.
NASA shared on Friday, in a tweet:
‘We’re saddened by the loss of retired astronaut Bruce McCandless II. Most known for being the 1st human to free-float on a shuttle spacewalk, he also served as the Apollo 11 moonwalkers’ link to mission control and helped launch [the Hubble Telescope].’
McCandless logged over 312 hours in space, including four hours of MMU flight time.
Astronaut Bruce McCandless logged over 312 hours in space, including four hours of MMU flight time; He died Thursday at age 80 in California
McCandless is seen here with the STS-31 crew of five in April 1990, including (left to right) Charles F. Bolden, pilot; Steven A. Hawley, mission specialist; Loren J. Shriver, commander; McCandless, mission specialist; and Kathryn D. Sullivan, mission specialist
McCandless uses a nitrogen jet-propelled backpack, a Manned Manuevering Unit, outside the space shuttle Challenger on Feb. 12, 1984
Born in Boston on June 8, 1937, McCandless moved to California during his youth and graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Long Beach.
McCandless graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor of science degree in 1958.
In 1965, he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
He also received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston at Clear Lake in 1987.
As a naval aviator, he took part in the Cuban blockade in the 1962 missile crisis.
McCandless was selected as one of just 19 individuals for astronaut training during the Gemini program in April 1966, and he was a backup pilot for the first manned Skylab mission in 1973.
McCandless performs untethered extra-vehicular activity (EVA) using an MMU during the Space Shuttle Challenger’s mission STS-41-B, in Feb. 1984
McCandless is seen here training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX in 1990
Mccandless during a spacewalk during the STS-41-B Mission, on Feb. 7, 1984
He received many awards, including the following:
The Legion of Merit (1988); Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal (1985); National Defense Service Medal; American Expeditionary Service Medal; NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1974); American Astronautical Society Victor A. Prather Award (1975 & 1985); NASA Space Flight Medal (1984); NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (1985); National Aeronautic Association Collier Trophy (1985); Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum Trophy (1985).
McCandless was awarded one patent for the design of a tool tethering system that was used during shuttle spacewalks.
He is survived by his wife, Ellen Shields McCandless of Conifer, Colorado; his son, Bruce McCandless III of Austin, Texas and his wife, Patricia; his daughter, Tracy McCandless, of Islamorada, Florida, and two granddaughters, Emma Rose and Carson Clare McCandless of Austin. He is also survived by a brother, Douglas M. McCandless of Washington, D.C., and two sisters, Sue M. Woodridge of Texas, and Rosemary V. McCandless of Dallas, Texas.
McCandless I listens to opening remarks for the panel discussion on Apr. 21, 2015 at Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colo.