
Bruce McCandless, First Astronaut to Fly Untethered in Space, Has Died - lyk
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/22/517135809/bruce-mccandless-first-astronaut-to-fly-untethered-in-space-has-died
======
mortenjorck
The famous photo:
[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2...](https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2100.html)

~~~
nishs
I cannot imagine the mental resolve and training it takes to handle something
going wrong in a situation like this.

~~~
rhcom2
“I was grossly over-trained. I was just anxious to get out there and fly. I
felt very comfortable ... It got so cold my teeth were chattering and I was
shivering, but that was a very minor thing,” he told the Daily Camera in
Boulder, Colorado.

[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/23/astronaut-
br...](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/23/astronaut-bruce-
mccandless-the-first-person-to-fly-freely-in-space-dies)

Astronauts are definitely a different breed.

~~~
jakebasile
As a young kid, I thought astronauts where just specially trained pilots like
any other who happened to go into space. When I actually did some research on
it I found out how wrong I was. Many of them helped engineer the equipment
they used (as McCandless did). I've never had the chance to meet an astronaut
but they also seem like good people in general.

~~~
TravHatesMe
I'm not a regular listener of Joe Rogan, but his interview with Chris Hadfield
is fascinating:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0laJvgVxo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0laJvgVxo)

Interesting to hear about his experiences as an astronaut. I was not aware of
the effects to the body after being in space for long periods of time.

------
minikites
"When We Left Earth" is a fabulous TV mini-series and Bruce McCandless is
interviewed a few times.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_We_Left_Earth:_The_NASA_M...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_We_Left_Earth:_The_NASA_Missions)

------
ColinWright
I asked Bruce how accurately the simulator matched the reality. He replied
that it was amazingly close, with the exception that the real thing "Chattered
loudly" when it was working. That caught him by surprise, and the simulator
was subsequently changed to include the noise.

An intelligent, thoughtful, hard-working, humble, charming man.

