How Did It Feel to Be the First Man to Walk Untethered in Space?
” BRUCE MCCANDLESS, LOCKHEED MARTIN SPACE SYSTEMS: Well, actually, it was a feeling of relief to me. I’d worked for quite a number of years on the development of the man-maneuvering unit. That was the very first time that anyone had flown untethered or unconnected to a space craft. I was sort of a one-person spacecraft flying around there by myself, and it proved to us that if we needed to, we could use a maneuvering unit or a similar device to stabilize satellites for retrieval, to inspect the outside of the orbiter or its space station, which is currently under assembly, and to make certain level of repairs on those things. I wasn’t very nervous or scared. The folks who were watching my heart rate and respiration rate in mission control can attest to that. I had practiced so much and trained so much for is that I really felt very comfortable.
