A scene on February 7, 1984 was engraved in memory with the silhouette of a man who filtered alone in the deep silence of space. Astronaut Bruce McCandless, 350 kilometers from Earth, floated in space freely, without any physical bond.

So, what did McCandless feel at those moments? What were the dangers he faced? And how was this wonderful experience possible?

The birth of an independent space hiking idea

Space walks, the official name, EVA (Extravehicular Activity), has been a module of the space missions of astronauts since the 1960s, but in every EVA, astronauts remained connected to the spacecraft or station.

NASA aimed to develop a technology that would allow astronauts to move freely. The idea turned into a project where McCandless was passionately tied throughout his profession.

Bruce McCandless was a pilot in the US Navy before joining NASA and was of great interest in space research. Apollo 11 also helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk.

His destiny would be the first person who could move completely independently in space. For the realization of the dream, NASA developed an impulse system called Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).

MMU allowed astronauts to move in space thanks to small pushers on their backs without using their hands. McCandless worked for years to develop MMU, and eventually, in 1984, the Challenger was ready to test this system during his mission.

McCandless alone in space

On February 7, 1984, McCandless, who came out of the cargo compartment of the Challenger Space shuttle, made MMU active. When he slowly began to move away from the shuttle, he began to breathe both the world and the crew in the space shuttle. McCandless describing those moments later used the following sentences:

“I had excessive education. I was just dying to go out and fly. I was feeling very comfortable … It was so cold that my teeth were hitting each other and trembling, but that was a very worthless thing. … I was told about the silent vacuum you experienced in space, but three radio contacts, ‘How is your oxygen going?’, ‘Stay away from engines!’ And ‘When is my turn?’ Then it was not so peaceful … It was an extraordinary feeling, a mixture of personal enthusiasm and professional pride: it had taken years to come to that point. ”

At that time, we cannot predict what McCandless feels. Like a dream… For the first time in history, a person was floating in space without any bond. The super view of the Earth was under its feet.

Despite the sense of adrenaline given by these moments, McCandless’s use of the cold -bloodedness and the impulse system in a complete form brought him success. He floated wrongly into a space for 98 meters and returned to the shuttle with success after 6 hours and 17 minutes. Until then, no astronaut had been so far away without being connected to a spacecraft.

What were the dangers and risks?

McCandless’s mission also contained a great risk. First of all, there was no one to help him if MMU failed. In space, there were many factors that could be fatal for the human body.

A random danger was completely alone due to the fact that no sound could be transmitted in space. MMU’s undisputedness could lead to real dragging into the space gap.

In addition, there is also a spiritual dimension. No astronaut had never been so alone. Seeing the Earth as an audience only and gliding in the endless darkness of space on its own brought a great psychological struggle.

However, McCandless completed the mission by giving all these difficulties with success and brought humanity’s ability to move in space to a new level.

The results of the task and the effects of today

Bruce McCandless’s heartbreaking space hiking has made a great contribution to the development of space technology. The security systems called Safer (Simplified Aid for Eva Rescue), which is used by astronauts at the inter -country space station (ISS), are a continuation of MMU.

Thanks to its audacity and technical knowledge, modern astronauts can carry out space walks in a more faithful form.

And the iconic photograph in which he filtered in the depths of space was engraved in memory as one of the most impressive images that reminds me of the infinite journey of man.

Bruce McCandless died in 2017. The trace he left in space will continue to shine forever during the reconnaissance trip of humanity.