Farther than anyone has every traveled, 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger. Astronaut McCandleless, in this picture is floating free in space guided by a manned manuevering unit(MMU). Astronauts McCandleless and Robert Stewart were the first to experience a nontethered free float in space. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. The MMU is very heavy on Earth, but virtually weightless in space, like everything else. The MMU has recently been replaced by the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
APOD 2.7- To Fly Free in Space
Farther than anyone has every traveled, 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger. Astronaut McCandleless, in this picture is floating free in space guided by a manned manuevering unit(MMU). Astronauts McCandleless and Robert Stewart were the first to experience a nontethered free float in space. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. The MMU is very heavy on Earth, but virtually weightless in space, like everything else. The MMU has recently been replaced by the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.
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