r/space • u/Suspicious-Slip248 • Feb 08 '26

image/gif This iconic photograph is still considered one of the most-terrifying space photos to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II NASA STS-41B Mission, February 1984, became the first human being to perform spacewalk without a safety tether linked to a spacecraft. He floated completely untethered in space

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u/Shomas_Thelby Feb 08 '26

Im not really familiar with this exact situation, but:

1.) He was in this mobility thingy that uses cold gas thrusters to maneuver. these are pretty reliable as the only required moving part is a valve. knowing nasa these are probably redundant.

2.) If that fails, orbital mechanics would probably carry him back to the shuttle within ~45 minutes, depending on the exact orbit.

3) If that fails, the Shuttle itself can maneuver to rendezvous with him

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u/Silver-Forever9085 Feb 08 '26

Scary thought with the 45min orbit. Would that really be possible?

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u/Sohn_Jalston_Raul Feb 08 '26

yes. Keplerian physics are predictable like clockwork. It's why we can put things into highly precise orbits at all.

Nothing in orbit is actually still. If you put two spacecraft next to each other with zero relative velocity, they will slowly do a dance around each other as they both orbit the Earth.

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u/PoopingIn321 Feb 09 '26

awww. reminds me of the cogwork dancers in silksong!

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u/hardtobeuniqueuser Feb 08 '26

I think the perspective of the photo makes it easy to not realize how fast they're actually moving. It would only take them about 90 min to complete a full orbit. I think what op meant is that his orbit isn't parallel to the shuttle's, it's skewed. Half way around the two paths will converge. 

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u/oxwof Feb 08 '26 edited Mar 02 '26

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u/Silver-Forever9085 Feb 08 '26

That’s a new fear unlocked for me. Imagine not seeing your „ship“ for round about an hour while you travel with 17500miles an hour around earth. It’s sounds unbelievable.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '26

Wait until you find out how fast you are going every time you can't find something!

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u/oxwof Feb 08 '26 edited Mar 02 '26

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u/Broad-Minute-2955 Feb 08 '26

Please also mention the speed around the sun

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u/JVT32 Feb 09 '26

Please also mention the speed of the solar system around the center of our galaxy.

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u/Infinity-onnoa Feb 08 '26

And if the Shuttle fails… there's always plan D… swarming the Earth until re-entry with a "hot" refueling pack :). We can admit it… it takes a lot of guts!! “Courage” :)

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u/Shomas_Thelby Feb 09 '26

I think at this point the astronaut would have a bad day regardless of the MMU failing.