A photo was taken in space several years ago and at first glance it may seem ordinary, but behind it lies a terrifying truth.
This photo was taken by astronaut Robert Gibson from the Challenger space shuttle on February 7, 1984. And the fellow astronaut seen in the photo is Bruce McCandless II.
It is described as the scariest photo ever taken in space, as it shows a human being far from the spacecraft without any apparent support.
This photo shows the first time a spacewalk has been performed without being attached to a spacecraft.
Before that time, every astronaut who had done a spacewalk had been connected to their spacecraft by some means, but this time Bruce had nothing but a propeller strapped to his waist to help him get back to the ship.
On his first mission, the astronaut tested the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a propulsion system that allows astronauts to spacewalk unassisted in space, and to do so, the astronaut had to separate from the space shuttle.
When the astronaut separated from the ship to test the propulsion, fortunately the device worked. If it didn’t work, it would have been very difficult for the astronaut to return to Challenger, otherwise it could have sent the astronaut into the depths of space forever.
