A total trust in technology...

A total trust in technology...

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AMG Merc

Original Poster:

11,954 posts

252 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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... and rather large balls!


perdu

4,884 posts

198 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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Brilliant picture

Makes me realise that if we don't have the balls to do that kind of thing "up there" we (mankind) will be doomed to never "boldly go" though.

If I had gone up there I would have been right at the front to try that, what a feeling out on your own must be.

Simpo Two

85,151 posts

264 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
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'Tests of the new trampoline exceeded expectations'

Eric Mc

121,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Taken 30 years ago.

And he could have been rescued if it all went wrong. The Shuttle could have nudged over to get him back.

The astronaut involved was Bruce McCandless.

Sadly, the MMU (Manned Manoeuvering Unit) was only used a couple of times. After the Challenger accident, a re-assessment of its usefullness v'safety led it to being dropped.

CrutyRammers

13,735 posts

197 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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It's a great picture, that. Regardless of the rescue procedures in place, it must've been a hard thing to step out into space untethered.

Halmyre

11,148 posts

138 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Eric Mc said:
Taken 30 years ago.

And he could have been rescued if it all went wrong. The Shuttle could have nudged over to get him back.

The astronaut involved was Bruce McCandless.

Sadly, the MMU (Manned Manoeuvering Unit) was only used a couple of times. After the Challenger accident, a re-assessment of its usefullness v'safety led it to being dropped.
Would the shuttle have been able to catch him if one of his thrusters jammed open though? Although some sort of mechanical 'fail-safe' would surely have been fitted.

Simpo Two

85,151 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Halmyre said:
Although some sort of mechanical 'fail-safe' would surely have been fitted.
= rope

Eric Mc

121,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
Halmyre said:
Eric Mc said:
Taken 30 years ago.

And he could have been rescued if it all went wrong. The Shuttle could have nudged over to get him back.

The astronaut involved was Bruce McCandless.

Sadly, the MMU (Manned Manoeuvering Unit) was only used a couple of times. After the Challenger accident, a re-assessment of its usefullness v'safety led it to being dropped.
Would the shuttle have been able to catch him if one of his thrusters jammed open though? Although some sort of mechanical 'fail-safe' would surely have been fitted.
Yes. There was a limited amount of fuel available so the seat would have used the fuel up quite rapidly.

The MMU has a long history.

It was the USAF who were really keen on it rather than NASA. The first MU was tried on Gemini X in 1966. Astronaut Gene Cernan got into so much difficulty just getting into it that the attempt to use it was abandoned.

A stripped down version was "flown" INSIDE the Skylab space station in 1973.

It was finally used as intended on a couple of flights in 1984/85. However, NASA were never comfortable with the device. They actually discovered that a much more sensible and safer way for astronauts to work outside of the confines of the Shuttle cargo bay was to stand with their feet locked into a platform attached to the Remote Manipulator Arm.

Catatafish

1,361 posts

144 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Eric Mc said:
Taken 30 years ago.

And he could have been rescued if it all went wrong. The Shuttle could have nudged over to get him back.

The astronaut involved was Bruce McCandless.

Sadly, the MMU (Manned Manoeuvering Unit) was only used a couple of times. After the Challenger accident, a re-assessment of its usefullness v'safety led it to being dropped.
Now I know what inspired this:


XM5ER

5,087 posts

247 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Gor blimey, have you never watched Gravity. There is nothing to worry about, after a sequence of quite ridiculously unlikely events the astronaut would have landed in a lake in the middle of nowhere. For those of you that have seen the movie, don't you just wish that when she climbed out of the lake, a great big grizzly bear had swiped her head off. st film.

Eric Mc

121,788 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Here's some earlier versions of the unit -

The Astronaut Manoeuvering Unit intended for Gemini and MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) Missions



The stripped down version tested inside Skylab in 1973 -




The full blown MMU as used on the Shuttle -


Taita

7,592 posts

202 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Anyone got a high res version of the OP image? I might get a canvas of it smile

jingars

1,091 posts

239 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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AMG Merc

Original Poster:

11,954 posts

252 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
quotequote all
Taita said:
Anyone got a high res version of the OP image? I might get a canvas of it smile
It's the first photo here - I chose it as it shows how alone he is and totally reliant on technology to survive. Also, some other great photos...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=space+walk+photo...

John_S4x4

1,350 posts

256 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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That's some cool images Eric smile Perhaps you can now mention the MOOSE system too ? You would of needed BIG balls to use that.... but would of really made the film Gravity, cut short biggrin

Halmyre

11,148 posts

138 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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What really happened:


Simpo Two

85,151 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th November 2014
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Very Rik Mayall!

MrCarPark

528 posts

140 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
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John_S4x4 said:
That's some cool images Eric smile Perhaps you can now mention the MOOSE system too ? You would of needed BIG balls to use that.... but would of really made the film Gravity, cut short biggrin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE

One or two issues with that smile

Eric Mc

121,788 posts

264 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
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John_S4x4 said:
That's some cool images Eric smile Perhaps you can now mention the MOOSE system too ? You would of needed BIG balls to use that.... but would of really made the film Gravity, cut short biggrin
The idea isn't dead. An "Escape Ball" system was proposed for the Space Shuttle programme and there is an Italian company working on a similar system for space station use.

Those distant shots of the MMU show astronaut Bruse McCandless on the very first flight of the MMU in 1984. Did you know that McCandless was the CAPCOM during the Appollo 11 moonwalk? That's his voice you can hear when Armstrong and Aldrin are walking on the moon.

For example, when Armstrong activates the Lunar Module camera it's McCandless says "Roger, we're geting a picture on the TV" and later, "Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now".

Because Apollos 18 to 20 were cancelled, McCandless never got to fly any Apollo missions and had to wait for the Shuttle programme to get into space.


scubadude

2,618 posts

196 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
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XM5ER said:
Gor blimey, have you never watched Gravity. There is nothing to worry about, after a sequence of quite ridiculously unlikely events the astronaut would have landed in a lake in the middle of nowhere. For those of you that have seen the movie, don't you just wish that when she climbed out of the lake, a great big grizzly bear had swiped her head off. st film.
Jez, who pissed in your cornflakes?

Yes its unlikely but it is a work of fiction for the sake of entertainment which other than some minor issues stays surprisingly realistic (for a change)

I was expecting her to land in the sea- sods law says you would if you de-orbit at random in a craft designed to land on the ground only :-)