Bruce McCandless, First Astronaut to Fly Untethered in Space, Has Died (opens in new tab)

(npr.org)

129 pointslyk8y ago21 comments

21 comments

The famous photo: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2...

I cannot imagine the mental resolve and training it takes to handle something going wrong in a situation like this.

“I was grossly over-trained. I was just anxious to get out there and fly. I felt very comfortable ... It got so cold my teeth were chattering and I was shivering, but that was a very minor thing,” he told the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/23/astronaut-br...

Astronauts are definitely a different breed.

2 more replies

limaoscarjuliet8y ago

Wondering what was the fallback plan in this case. Would orbiter re position itself to catch up with the guy? Tough to imagine it was "you get to die in vacuum of space"!

1 more reply

easyfrag8y ago

I was pleasantly surprised he was 47 when he did this, not that he wasn't qualified or capable, just assumed there would be a bias towards a younger astronaut.

trvrsalom8y ago

Reading about the training and preparation, both physical and mental, that astronauts do is pretty inspirational. Astronauts are examples of peak human beings.

1 more reply

dang8y ago

We changed the URL from the text-only http://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=517135809&rid=1001 to the standard NPR link that has the photo.

minikites8y ago

"When We Left Earth" is a fabulous TV mini-series and Bruce McCandless is interviewed a few times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_We_Left_Earth:_The_NASA_M...

ColinWright8y ago

I asked Bruce how accurately the simulator matched the reality. He replied that it was amazingly close, with the exception that the real thing "Chattered loudly" when it was working. That caught him by surprise, and the simulator was subsequently changed to include the noise.

An intelligent, thoughtful, hard-working, humble, charming man.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

21 comments

mortenjorck8y ago

The famous photo: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2...

nishs8y ago

I cannot imagine the mental resolve and training it takes to handle something going wrong in a situation like this.

rhcom28y ago

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/23/astronaut-br...

Astronauts are definitely a different breed.

2 more replies

limaoscarjuliet8y ago

Wondering what was the fallback plan in this case. Would orbiter re position itself to catch up with the guy? Tough to imagine it was "you get to die in vacuum of space"!

1 more reply

easyfrag8y ago

I was pleasantly surprised he was 47 when he did this, not that he wasn't qualified or capable, just assumed there would be a bias towards a younger astronaut.

trvrsalom8y ago

Reading about the training and preparation, both physical and mental, that astronauts do is pretty inspirational. Astronauts are examples of peak human beings.

1 more reply

dang8y ago

We changed the URL from the text-only http://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=517135809&rid=1001 to the standard NPR link that has the photo.

minikites8y ago

"When We Left Earth" is a fabulous TV mini-series and Bruce McCandless is interviewed a few times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_We_Left_Earth:_The_NASA_M...

ColinWright8y ago

An intelligent, thoughtful, hard-working, humble, charming man.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse