Bruce McCandless II
Bruce McCandless II was an American naval officer, aviator, electrical engineer, and NASA astronaut. Selected in NASA Astronaut Group 5 in 1966, he trained through Apollo, Skylab, and shuttle development before making one of the most famous in spaceflight history.
- Born
- June 8, 1937
- Died
- December 21, 2017
- Birthplace
- Boston, Massachusetts,United States
Flights
2
Spacewalks
2
EVA time
12 hours, 12 minutes
In space
13 days, 31 minutes
Bio
Before his own flights, McCandless served in mission support roles including CAPCOM work during Apollo 11. He was deeply involved in EVA systems, maneuvering-unit development, and the kind of operational engineering that later made shuttle spacewalks possible.
His first spaceflight was STS-41-B in 1984. During that mission he performed the first untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit, flying free of Challenger in an image that became iconic for the shuttle program.
McCandless flew again on STS-31 in 1990, the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. That flight placed him at another major moment in shuttle history, linking EVA development with orbital observatory deployment.
His NASA career is a long arc from Apollo support to shuttle EVA innovation. McCandless is remembered not just for the photograph, but for the engineering and operational work behind making untethered maneuvering possible.