Astronaut Bruce McCandless with Earth in Background
Astronaut Bruce McCandless with Earth in Background

On view

Photography

Astronaut Bruce McCandless with Earth in Background,

1984

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, active United States
2006-448
This photograph was taken from the flight deck of a space shuttle that was launched on February 3, 1984, and landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida seven days later. During the voyage the astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert L. Stewart carried out the first untethered space walks, venturing further from their ship than ever before with the help of a jet-propelled backpack, the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). After a series of tests, McCandless went “free-flying” 320 feet away from the ship’s cabin, using joysticks to fire nitrogen jet thrusters and propel himself in any direction he chose. This view captures an important moment in scientific history while also evoking the dizzying possibilities of space exploration.
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More About This Object

Collection Publications: Body Memory: Photographic Bodies

Information

Title
Astronaut Bruce McCandless with Earth in Background
Dates

1984

Maker
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Medium
Dye transfer print
Dimensions
image: 50.5 × 49.8 cm (19 7/8 × 19 5/8 in.) sheet: 57.5 × 56.7 cm (22 5/8 × 22 5/16 in.) mat: 61 × 71.1 cm (24 × 28 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, anonymous gift in honor of Peter C. Bunnell
Object Number
2006-448
Culture
American
Type
photographs, color photographs, dye transfer prints
Techniques
dye transfer process
Subject
space suits, astronauts

[Alan Klotz Gallery, New York, NY]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 2006.

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