{"id":30114078,"date":"2026-10-29T11:55:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=30114078"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:55:54","slug":"bruce-mccandless-mmu-first-untethered-spacewalk-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/bruce-mccandless-mmu-first-untethered-spacewalk-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce McCandless and the MMU: The First Untethered Spacewalk"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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Strapped into the Manned Maneuvering Unit, a nitrogen-powered backpack, he became the first person to move freely through space with no tether to a spacecraft. The photograph of him alone against the black sky, with the Earth below, became one of the best-known images NASA has ever released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Date:<\/strong> 7 February 1984<\/li><li><strong>Mission:<\/strong> STS-41-B, Space Shuttle Challenger<\/li><li><strong>Astronaut:<\/strong> Capt. Bruce McCandless II, US Navy<\/li><li><strong>Farthest from the Shuttle:<\/strong> About 320 feet (98 m)<\/li><li><strong>Altitude:<\/strong> About 170 miles<\/li><li><strong>Speed:<\/strong> About 17,500 mph, in orbit alongside Challenger<\/li><li><strong>Jetpack:<\/strong> Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), 24 nitrogen thrusters, built by Martin Marietta<\/li><li><strong>MMU missions:<\/strong> Three, all in 1984: STS-41-B, STS-41-C and STS-51-A<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">From Fighter Pilot to Astronaut<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCandless graduated second in his class from the US Naval Academy in 1958 and became a naval aviator, flying the F4D Skyray and F-4B Phantom with VF-102 from the carriers Forrestal and Enterprise. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 1966, he served as a capsule communicator in Mission Control during Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin&rsquo;s moonwalk in July 1969.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">320 Feet From Challenger<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the fifth day of STS-41-B, McCandless and Robert Stewart went out into the payload bay. McCandless backed into the MMU, which Martin Marietta had designed and built, and flew it out of the bay using hand controllers that fired its 24 small nitrogen thrusters. He moved out to about 320 feet from the orbiter and back. Both he and Stewart flight-tested the two MMUs on board over two days of spacewalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It may have been one small step for Neil, but it&rsquo;s a heck of a big leap for me.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Bruce McCandless II<\/strong> &mdash; as he left Challenger, 7 February 1984<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The famous photographs were taken from inside the cockpit by the crew, including pilot Robert &ldquo;Hoot&rdquo; Gibson, as McCandless floated in the distance with the Earth behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Short Career<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MMU flew on only three missions, all in 1984. On STS-41-C in April, George Nelson used it in an attempt to capture the Solar Maximum Mission satellite; the docking device failed to lock on and the satellite was eventually caught with the Shuttle&rsquo;s robotic arm and repaired. In November, on STS-51-A, the MMU was used to recover two stranded communications satellites, Palapa B2 and Westar VI, which were brought home. After the Challenger disaster in 1986, the MMUs were not used again. MMU No. 3, the unit McCandless flew, is now displayed at the Smithsonian&rsquo;s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCandless died on 21 December 2017 at the age of 80.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the Popular Version Gets Right<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The usual account is accurate: 7 February 1984, STS-41-B, the first untethered spacewalk, the nitrogen-powered MMU, about 320 feet from Challenger, and a speed of about 17,500 mph. One small correction: the Shuttle was about 170 miles above the Earth, not 180.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: Adam Higginbotham, &ldquo;The Inside Story of the First Untethered Spacewalk&rdquo;, Smithsonian Magazine (2024); This Day in Aviation, Bruce McCandless II; Lockheed Martin, Manned Maneuvering Unit history; Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, MMU No. 3 object record (A20010176000).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who made the first untethered spacewalk?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">US Navy Captain Bruce McCandless II made the first untethered spacewalk on 7 February 1984, during Space Shuttle Challenger&rsquo;s STS-41-B mission, using the nitrogen-powered Manned Maneuvering Unit.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How far did Bruce McCandless go from the Shuttle?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Bruce McCandless flew the Manned Maneuvering Unit to about 320 feet (98 metres) from Challenger before returning to the payload bay.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the Manned Maneuvering Unit?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) was a backpack built by Martin Marietta that let an astronaut fly freely outside the Space Shuttle using 24 small nitrogen gas thrusters controlled by hand controllers.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many times was the MMU used?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The MMU flew on three Space Shuttle missions, all in 1984: STS-41-B (the first untethered spacewalk), STS-41-C (the Solar Max repair mission) and STS-51-A (the recovery of the Palapa B2 and Westar VI satellites). It was not used again after the 1986 Challenger disaster.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who took the famous photo of Bruce McCandless?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The photographs of Bruce McCandless floating free were taken from inside Challenger&rsquo;s cockpit by his crewmates, including pilot Robert &ldquo;Hoot&rdquo; Gibson.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where is the MMU Bruce McCandless flew?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">MMU No. 3, the unit flown by Bruce McCandless on STS-41-B, is displayed at the Smithsonian&rsquo;s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who made the first untethered spacewalk?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"US Navy Captain Bruce McCandless II made the first untethered spacewalk on 7 February 1984, during Space Shuttle Challenger\u2019s STS-41-B mission, using the nitrogen-powered Manned Maneuvering Unit.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How far did Bruce McCandless go from the Shuttle?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Bruce McCandless flew the Manned Maneuvering Unit to about 320 feet (98 metres) from Challenger before returning to the payload bay.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Manned Maneuvering Unit?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) was a backpack built by Martin Marietta that let an astronaut fly freely outside the Space Shuttle using 24 small nitrogen gas thrusters controlled by hand controllers.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many times was the MMU used?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The MMU flew on three Space Shuttle missions, all in 1984: STS-41-B (the first untethered spacewalk), STS-41-C (the Solar Max repair mission) and STS-51-A (the recovery of the Palapa B2 and Westar VI satellites). It was not used again after the 1986 Challenger disaster.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who took the famous photo of Bruce McCandless?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The photographs of Bruce McCandless floating free were taken from inside Challenger\u2019s cockpit by his crewmates, including pilot Robert \\\"Hoot\\\" Gibson.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where is the MMU Bruce McCandless flew?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"MMU No. 3, the unit flown by Bruce McCandless on STS-41-B, is displayed at the Smithsonian\u2019s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/buzz-aldrin-korea-f-86-sabre-mig-15-gun-camera-1953\/\">Buzz Aldrin in MiG Alley: The Sabre Pilot Who Filmed a MiG Pilot Ejecting<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/neil-armstrong-close-calls-korea-gemini-8-llrv-apollo-11\/\">Neil Armstrong&rsquo;s Four Close Calls: Korea, Gemini 8, the Flying Bedstead and the Moon<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/aria-ec-135n-apollo-range-instrumentation-aircraft-apollo-11\/\">ARIA: The Flying Radio Stations That Talked to Apollo 11<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 7 February 1984 former Navy fighter pilot Bruce McCandless strapped into a nitrogen-powered jetpack and flew away from Space Shuttle Challenger with nothing connecting him to it. Here is the story of the first untethered spacewalk and the Manned Maneuvering Unit.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":30114039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30114078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bruce McCandless and the MMU: First Untethered Spacewalk | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 7 February 1984 Bruce McCandless flew the Manned Maneuvering Unit 320 feet from Challenger, the first person to float free in space. 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