“It could have been one small step for Neil,” McCandless quipped in reference to Armstrong’s well-known phrases, “but it surely’s a heck of an enormous leap for me.” As The New York Occasions reported on the time, “Freed from any lifeline and propelled into the darkish void by tiny jets, they grew to become, in impact, the primary human satellites.”
The MMUs had been powered by two dozen gaseous nitrogen thrusters saved in tanks on the astronaut’s backpack, enabling free motion in area. Management was achieved by means of hand controllers, permitting spacewalkers to regulate thrust and route for exact navigation throughout extravehicular actions. The know-how demonstration labored, however “many within the company had been fearful about using a self-propelled and untethered backpack in area,” as NASA historian Jennifer Ross-Nazzal wrote in her retrospective.
