This Photo From Space Will Stay in Your Mind Forever

Bright Side

In 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless made history by floating 100 meters away from the space shuttle, completely untethered. Can you imagine that? Just him, the endless void of space, and a jetpack keeping him alive. He was testing the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a sort of space-age jetpack that let him drift freely in zero gravity without a safety line. The sight of him alone in the vast blackness was both awe-inspiring and nerve-wracking—like the ultimate trust fall with technology. It’s one of those moments that perfectly captures the daring spirit of space exploration!  Credit: STS-116 spacewalk 1: By STS-116 Shuttle Crew, NASA - https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061225.html, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1465324 Bruce McCandless II: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48209 Bruce McCandless on mid-deck: By NASA - Great Images, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6481158 Astronaut James D. van Hoften: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14638908 Astronaut Robert L. Stewart: By National Archives and Records Administration, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96884823 Crew of STS-107: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=780785 STS-107 crew: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=261717 Bumper8 launch: By NASA/U.S. Army, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2892820 Ham the chimp: By NASA - https://images.nasa.gov/details/S63-20801, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37223396 Historic Misson Control: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details-jsc2019m000564_HistoricMissionControl_FB_MP4.html Gene Cernan Apollo 10: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47347505 ISS-19 Crew members: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9007073 Karen Nyberg: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66358332 Bill McArthur: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9013806 Bjarni V. Tryggvason: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99279573 Astronaut Wilcutt: By NASA, National Archives, Still Pictures, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97063348 Chris Cassidy: By NASA - https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/nasa-astronaut-chris-cassidy-gets-a-workout, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91450628 WMAP 2012: By NASA / WMAP Science Team, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23285693 CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0: Gene Cernan: By Kevin M. Gill - https://flic.kr/p/2dv9KUC, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=146928352 Space Toilet: By Don DeBold - https://flic.kr/p/eeDyw4, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80488043 Russian Space Toilet: By Keith Errington, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119965531 Animation is created by Bright Side.  Thumbnail. Attribution: Preview photo credit: EVAtion: By NASA - Great Images, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6449695 Animation is created by Bright Side. Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Usually, when we look at the photos of astronauts in space, we can see that they're sort of

00:05attached to the spacecraft.

00:08But there was one brave astronaut who took a wild step into the great unknown without

00:12any safety line connecting him to the shuttle.

00:15This brave man was Bruce McCandless, and he did that stunt back in 1984.

00:21How did he come back, you may ask?

00:24He did this cool trick using a nitrogen jetpack, which NASA called the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

00:31At first, he tried out some test maneuvers in the Challenger's payload bay.

00:36And only after he made sure it was alright did McCandless decide to go for it and glide

00:42a staggering 320 feet away from the shuttle.

00:47A bit of sad stats here.

00:49Out of the 430 people who have made the leap into space, 18 have, sadly, lost their lives,

00:56which gives us a fatality rate of just over 4%.

01:00With these numbers, it's safe to say that space shuttles are the least safe means of

01:04transport out there.

01:06Duh!

01:07Alright, let's make it a tad brighter.

01:09If we crunch the numbers a bit better, we can get a smaller percentage.

01:13But how?

01:14Well, 4% is a bit misleading because when we count, we take all the space flights.

01:19However, some people flew several times, which reduced the probability.

01:25With over 600 seats filled across 113 shuttle flights, the true fatality rate for shuttle

01:30missions is actually closer to 2%.

01:35Let's test your general knowledge now, shall we?

01:38So what was the first living thing ever sent to space?

01:41If your answer is a monkey, you aren't right.

01:44Those who said dogs, sorry you guys, but it's not correct either.

01:49On the 9th of July, 1946, fruit flies became the first living creatures to make it to space

01:54during a suborbital V2 rocket flight.

01:59Then on the 20th of February, 1947, these little guys safely returned from their journey,

02:05opening the door for future human space exploration.

02:09Before we sent to space mammals like the rhesus monkey, Albert II, in 1949, or the

02:15famous space dogs, scientists spent a lot of time studying fruit flies to see how they

02:20reacted to radiation and the conditions of space travel.

02:25Researchers started using fruit flies for experiments back in the 1910s.

02:29Guess why?

02:31Because we humans share a lot of genes with these yucky pests.

02:37Imagine hearing some creepy music all of a sudden, when there's nothing but darkness

02:40around you and nobody is there to help you.

02:44Right, now imagine how elevated this experience was for astronauts who heard some creepy music

02:49in their space shuttle.

02:52Months before the moon landing, Apollo 10 astronauts were orbiting the moon, testing

02:57equipment, when they heard strange audio noises.

03:01Astronaut Eugene Cernan noted the eerie sounds, joking they were like weird music.

03:08At that moment, the astronauts didn't have contact with mission control, they were over

03:12the moon's dark side.

03:14Although the noises resembled something from a sci-fi film, NASA downplayed them as they

03:19were focused on the astronauts' mental health.

03:23Despite years of speculation, the source of the sounds remains unknown, with theories

03:28ranging from radio interference to charged particle activity.

03:32Cernan later remarked that they didn't take it seriously and didn't report it after the

03:36mission.

03:39Chances are, we've already received messages from new friends from other galaxies, but

03:43we just failed to understand them.

03:46In August 1977, some astronomers using the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio University

03:54picked up a strange narrow-band radio signal from the constellation Sagittarius that lasted

04:00for 72 seconds.

04:02The signal buzzed at a frequency of 1,420 MHz, which is significant because it matches

04:09the natural emissions from hydrogen.

04:12This frequency had been flagged by scientists almost two decades earlier as a likely choice

04:18for extraterrestrial civilizations trying to reach out to us.

04:22They dubbed it the WOW signal after one of the astronomers wrote WOW on their printout.

04:28We've never heard that signal again, and no one has been able to explain its origins satisfactorily.

04:36After spending about a month in space, astronauts start losing quite a lot of skin from the

04:40bottoms of their feet, especially those tough calluses they've built up over time.

04:46One astronaut even called mission control in a bit of a panic when he noticed a chunk

04:50of his heel drifting off in zero gravity.

04:53But no worries, as the old calluses peel away, new ones spring up from the tops of their

04:58feet.

04:59They need that grip to hold on to all the restraints, kind of like airborne trapeze

05:04artists.

05:06Going number one and seeing blood is as scary as it sounds, and yes, in the weightlessness

05:11of space, blood doesn't settle in the lower body in the same way it does on Earth.

05:16This can lead to some alarming situations on board.

05:21Natural urges are universal, regardless of location.

05:24There are two main reasons why astronauts are unable to use traditional toilets in space.

05:29First, water is an extremely valuable resource aboard a spacecraft.

05:34Second, there is no gravitational flow of water in space.

05:38The drinkable water on a space station is contained in pouches and is used accordingly.

05:43In a weightless environment, a specialized device with suction and disposable bags is

05:48used for waste collection, with the storage being replaced every ten days.

05:53Additionally, spacecraft are equipped with complex systems designed to recycle and filter

05:57liquid waste, converting it back into usable water for the astronauts' daily needs.

06:05As if that wasn't enough, spending an extended period floating around in space brings another

06:10challenge.

06:11The body may lose its bursa sacs, those handy little cushions that sit between our hip joints.

06:18While this may not pose an immediate issue in the zero-gravity environment, returning

06:23to solid ground can turn the simple act of sitting down, whether in a chair or on a toilet,

06:29into a real struggle.

06:32The fluid shifts that contribute to blood-related issues don't stop there.

06:36They can also wreak havoc on astronauts' sinuses, creating a constant feeling of congestion.

06:42It feels like living in a stuffy room all the time, where relief seems just out of reach.

06:47Thus, the challenges of long-term space travel add up, making the experience as daunting

06:53as it is thrilling.

06:56Another challenge astronauts run into is vision loss, also known as ocular syndrome, which

07:01sounds all science-y.

07:03While the exact cause is still a bit of a mystery, it's thought that extra pressure

07:07on the brain can mess with both the retinas and optic nerves.

07:12And here's a fun fact, it mostly affects guys!

07:16By the way, you might assume that shutting your eyes in space means it's pitch black,

07:20but that's not the case.

07:23Because of high levels of radiation, astronauts can still see bright lights when they zip

07:27through certain parts of their orbit.

07:30It's a pretty strange phenomenon that keeps them on their toes, even with their eyes closed.

07:36Switching gears, let's talk about bone health in space.

07:41It turns out that being weightless can really take a toll on astronauts' bones.

07:46Like they can lose up to 2% of their bone mass every month, which is pretty wild.

07:52But the good news?

07:53They've come up with new exercise routines that help fight off that bone loss.

07:58So while space travel definitely has its challenges, researchers are working hard to

08:03keep astronauts in tip-top shape as they explore the universe.

08:09The Big Crunch is a cool theory about how the universe might end and it's basically

08:14the opposite of the Big Bang.

08:18So imagine the universe expanding for ages, but then it hits the brakes and starts collapsing

08:24in on itself, maybe even forming a huge black hole.

08:30Scientists are looking into this by checking out the universe's density.

08:34If it's too dense, such a collapse might really happen.

08:38At first, people thought that gravity would eventually take over and stop the expansion

08:43from the Big Bang.

08:45But then we found this mysterious thing called dark energy, which is actually speeding up

08:51the universe's expansion.

08:53Because of that, it seems like the Big Crunch is pretty unlikely.

08:57Right now, the evidence shows that dark energy is here to stay, so the universe will just

09:03keep on expanding forever!

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