Forty Years Ago This Noontime... A "Human Satellite!" Bruce McCandless II Took NASA's First "Free-Range" Space-Walk / EVA...

The sense of wonder, as I watched it in the law firm conference room on TV (while drafting public company M&A documents, old school, on paper!), was. . . palpable.

These were indeed. . . heady days.

. . .Bruce McCandless II was born June 8, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was Rear Admiral Bruce McCandless, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Bruce received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1958, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1965, and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston at Clear Lake in 1987. . . .

Bruce McCandless II was second in his class of 899 at Annapolis. He became a naval aviator in March of 1960 and was stationed in Key West, Florida, for weapons system and carrier landing training in the F-6A Skyray. His next duty was with Fighter Squadron 102 (VF-102) from December 1960 to February 1964, flying the Skyray and the F-4B Phantom II. During this period he served aboard the aircraft carriers the USS Forrestal and the USS Enterprise, including the latter’s participation in the Cuban Blockade in October and November 1962. . . .

McCandless was one of nineteen astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. . . .

Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless first entered space on STS-41B Challenger, launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida on February 3, 1984. During the flight, the deployment of two Hughes 376-series communications satellites, and rendezvous sensors and computer programs were flight tested for the first time. STS-41B was the first checkout of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), and the Manipulator Foot Restraint. McCandless made the first untethered, free flight with each of the two MMU’s carried on board and alternated with Mission Specialist Robert L. Stewart in the activities constituting two spectacular extravehicular activities. As he floated free of the Shuttle, McCandless became the first “human satellite. . . .”

Captain McCandless currently makes his home in Conifer, Colorado. . . .

Now you know -- and he lives. . . just a stone's throw away, from my mom's home. . . to this day. Smile.

नमस्ते