Perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats completely untethered, away from the safety of the space shuttle, with nothing but his Manned Maneuvering Unit keeping him alive. The first person in history to do so.
Credit: NASA pic.twitter.com/uapVOFwS2u— Curiosity (@Sciencenature14) June 20, 2022
So long, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. “We cast this message into the cosmos,” Jimmy Carter says on the golden record each spacecraft carries. “This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.” https://t.co/oYF9XzjTMy via @sciam
— Laura Helmuth (@laurahelmuth) June 19, 2022
?? Planets align. It’s fine. What is time? Does that even rhyme?
Look up starting tonight to see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn spread out and appear to line up in the sky. The crescent moon joins them on June 23: https://t.co/36QwkIxfaw pic.twitter.com/uh5V9W2q45
— NASA (@NASA) June 19, 2022
Yutsano
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!
debbie
Robotics are the only intelligent signs of life at this point.
The Thin Black Duke
@debbie: Who built the robotics?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I used to have a really cool large poster of an astronaut with the MMU posing with the robotic Canadarm on the Space Shuttle that was so cool, with the Earth in the background. I’ve always thought that McCandless photo was very humbling
Old School
FYI – You need to click through to Twitter to see the untethered astronaut. He’s cut off in the imbedded photo.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Thin Black Duke:
Aliensdidit!
Scout211
From space to history, we all have much to learn.
3,400-year-old city in Iraq emerges from underwater after a period of extreme drought.
Anne Laurie
@Old School: Thanks — I added a screencap!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@debbie:
Truth be told, there might be a chance that if we ever do discover intelligent alien life, it might be technological in nature, such as an alien AI and/or tens of billions of biological beings that have uploaded themselves. One benefit, aside from functional immortality, would be the ability to control a civilization’s perception of time, especially for the purposes of interstellar/intergalactic trave
Sorta like the Borg from Star Trek TNG or the Culture
Yutsano
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Professor Levenson agrees with you.
kalakal
I’ve always found that McCandless photo wonderful. The Juno pictures of Jupiter are so very beautiful, they almost look like alcohol ink paintings
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/images/index.html
oatler
That spacewalk stunt sounds cool but they didn’t accept my advice. Do they understand how much Heinlein I’ve read??
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Yutsano:
It’s behind Twitter’s wall for me : (
PaulB
That’s sad to hear that the Voyager spacecraft are powering down. I used to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the Multi-mission Image Processing Lab. We were the group that got the image data from the spacecraft, processed it, and made it available to the scientists, as well as generating those lovely pictures. The Voyager missions were a stunning success, far exceeding even the wildest hopes of those involved.
One thing that stood out for me is just how antiquated some of the equipment was. You see, when JPL got the NASA contract, they bought all of the equipment at that time, even though it would be years before it would be needed. By the time the spacecraft hit Jupiter and Saturn, the equipment was already dated. By the time I got there, in the late 80s and early 90s, it was primitive. One of the machines I was working with was a file-cabinet-sized mainframe which could perform instructions at the rate of 1 million instructions per second. A typical home computer then could easily do 30 to 40 times that.
It was a relief to work on the Magellan project, exploring Venus, which had equipment that was only a few years old.
CarolPW
Way back when I donated to the Planetary Society for funding support of the Voyagers. In 1989 for the Voyager 2 flyby and solar system exit the Society threw a gigantic 5 day long party, and I got to see Chuck Berry play at JPL. Carl Sagan was still alive, and the whole thing was a blast.
Another Scott
There’s lots of pictures of Bruce McCandless II and a video of his trip at NASA.gov. He died at age 80 on December 21, 2017.
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
9 weird transients from 1950 still unexplained
Pretty spooky stuff, potentially
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@CarolPW:
That does sound like it was a blast!
Geoduck
Planets aligning, huh?
Miki
Climate change in Frostbite Falls.
SpaceUnit
Yawn. I do this all the time.
Tethers are for the noobs.
Ken
@Geoduck: Yeah, but did you notice the catch where you have to get up at four in the morning to see them?
prostratedragon
Ah, me! No more “vee-ger.”
prostratedragon
Article on Yogi Berra and a new documentary about him ends on a standing ovation Berra-ism: to young Ron Swoboda trying to hit like Frank Robinson, “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.”
Villago Delenda Est
You can’t fool me. That’s Mark Watney playing Iron Man.
Chief Oshkosh
@The Thin Black Duke: Other robots, of course.
Please try to keep up.
;)
lowtechcyclist
Those evil-natured robots, they’re programmed to destroy us…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdDHi5SSIlM
bbleh
The way things are going right now, that McCandless thing looks like a pretty good option …
J R in WV
That guy was the furthest away from everyone of anyone ever.
Just look at the guy, floating in space, totally not connected to the Earth, not connected to anyone –oh, wait, except Mission Control who knew every breath he took, and how much O2 he had left before he would expire — but still fired up for the mission.
So jealous. I’m in my 70s now, and so not qualified for a space mission. But since I was in Jr High I wanted to be launched into space, to the moon, into the deep space of the solar system… never gonna happen now! But someone got to do it, and send back video.
I remember when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, wife and I watched that with my parents, years before we were wed. Will never forget that night.
Another Scott
@J R in WV:
At the start of the NASA video he keeps fidgeting with his left arm and wrist and shoulder. As if something was not right or was irritating him. But he kept going, to do his job to complete the mission, knowing he was out there by himself with no net or rope and that his life depended on the suit working properly.
Nerves of steel.
Cheers,
Scott.
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
That McCandless photo was one of my most favorite images in my space library of images. Such a magnificent feat.
JAFD
Minor historical sidelight: Bruce McCandless’ father graduated from Annapolis in ’38. On November 13th, 1942 (yes, a Friday), was a Lt. Commander on duty on the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco
Should you ever read any historical / military / science fiction which puts the young hero / heroine as the only surviving officer on the flagship’s bridge in the middle of a battle – he was the inspiration.
( The senior McCandless, unfortunately, died of multiple sclerosis at an early age. )