Bruce McCandless II

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox astronaut Bruce McCandless II (born Byron Willis McCandless;<ref name="Wonders"/> June 8, 1937 – December 21, 2017) was an American Navy officer and aviator, electrical engineer, and NASA astronaut. In 1984, during the first of his two Space Shuttle missions, he completed the first untethered spacewalk by using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

Early life and education

Byron Willis McCandless<ref name="Wonders">Template:Cite book</ref> was born on June 8, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts.<ref name="nmspace">Template:Cite web</ref> A third-generation U.S. Navy officer, McCandless was the son of Bruce McCandless and grandson of Willis W. Bradley, both Medal of Honor recipients. His mother changed his name on June 6, 1938, to Bruce McCandless II.<ref name="Wonders"/> He graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School, Long Beach, California, in 1954.<ref name="nmspace" />

In 1958, he received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Naval Academy, graduating second, behind future National Security Advisor John Poindexter, in a class of 899 that also included John McCain.<ref name="nmspace" /> During his professional career, he also received a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1965 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston–Clear Lake in 1987.<ref name="nmspace" />

United States Navy

Following his commissioning, McCandless received flight training from the Naval Air Training Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas.<ref name="nmspace" />

In March 1960, he was designated a United States Naval Aviator and proceeded to Naval Air Station Key West for weapons system and carrier landing training in the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray.<ref name="nmspace" />

Between December 1960 and February 1964, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 102 (VF-102), flying the Skyray and the McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II. He saw duty aboard Template:USS and Template:USS, including the latter's participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis.<ref name="nmspace" />

For three months in early 1964, he was an instrument flight instructor in Attack Squadron 43 (VA-43) at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, and then reported to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps unit at Stanford University for graduate studies in electrical engineering.<ref name="nmspace" />

During Naval service he gained flying proficiency in the Lockheed T-33B Shooting Star, Northrop T-38A Talon, McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, Douglas F4D Skyray, Grumman F11F Tiger, Grumman F9F Cougar, Lockheed T-1 Seastar, and Beechcraft T-34B Mentor, and the Bell 47G helicopter.<ref name="nmspace" />

He logged more than 5,200 hours flying time, including 5,000 hours in jet aircraft.<ref name="nasabio" />

NASA career

File:McCandless during Apollo 11 EVA.png

McCandless as capcom during the Apollo 11 EVA

At the age of 28, McCandless was selected as the youngest member of NASA Astronaut Group 5 (jokingly labeled the "Original Nineteen" by John W. Young) in April 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to space historian Matthew Hersch, McCandless and Group 5 colleague Don L. Lind were "effectively treated ... as scientist-astronauts" (akin to those selected in the fourth and sixth groups) by NASA due to their substantial scientific experience, an implicit reflection of their lack of the test pilot experience highly valued by Deke Slayton and other NASA managers at the time; this ultimately delayed their progression in the flight rotation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He served as mission control capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on Apollo 11 during the launch and during the first lunar moonwalk (EVA) by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin before joining the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 14 mission, on which he doubled as a CAPCOM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thereafter, McCandless was reassigned to the Skylab program, where he received his first crew assignment as backup pilot for the space station's first crewed mission alongside backup commander Rusty Schweickart and backup science pilot Story Musgrave.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following this assignment, he again served as a CAPCOM on Skylab 3 and Skylab 4. Notably, McCandless was a co-investigator on the M-509 astronaut maneuvering unit experiment that was flown on Skylab; this eventually led to his collaboration on the development of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) used during Space Shuttle EVAs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although he was classified as a Shuttle pilot until 1983, McCandless ultimately chose to work on the MMU as a mission specialist due to the prestige of the program (which ensured a flight assignment) and his lack of test pilot experience.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He was responsible for crew inputs to the development of hardware and procedures for the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), Hubble Space Telescope, the Solar Maximum Repair Mission, and the International Space Station program.<ref name="nasabio" />

McCandless logged over 312 hours in space, including four hours of MMU flight time.<ref name="nasabio" /> He flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-B and STS-31.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

STS-41-B

File:Bruce McCandless II during EVA in 1984.jpg

McCandless using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) during Template:Nowrap, photographed by Robert Gibson

Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 7, 1984. The flight deployed two communications satellites, and flight-tested rendezvous sensors and computer programs for the first time.<ref name="nasabio" />

This mission marked the first checkout of the MMU and Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR). McCandless made the first untethered free flight on each of the two MMUs carried on board, thereby becoming the first person to make an untethered spacewalk.<ref name="nasabio" /> He described the experience:<ref name=Guardian />

McCandless's first EVA lasted 6 hours and 17 minutes. The second EVA (in which Stewart used the MMU) lasted 5 hours and 55 minutes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On February 11, 1984, after eight days in orbit, Challenger made the first landing on the runway at Kennedy Space Center.<ref name="nasabio" />

STS-31

Template:Main On this five-day Discovery flight, launched on April 24, 1990, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew deployed the Hubble Space Telescope from their record-setting altitude of Template:Convert.<ref name="nasabio" />

During the deployment of Hubble, one of the observatory's solar arrays stopped as it unfurled. While ground controllers searched for a way to command HST to unreel the solar array, Mission Specialists McCandless and Kathryn D. Sullivan began preparing for a contingency spacewalk in the event that the array could not be deployed through ground control. The array eventually came free and unfurled through ground control, while McCandless and Sullivan were pre-breathing inside the partially depressurized airlock.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on April 29, 1990.<ref name="nasabio" />

After NASA

After retiring from NASA in 1990, McCandless worked for Lockheed Martin Space Systems.<ref name=Guardian />

Organizations

• United States Naval Academy Alumni Association (class of 1958)<ref name="nasabio" />
• United States Naval Institute<ref name="nasabio" />
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)<ref name="nasabio" />
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)<ref name="nasabio" />
• Association for Computing Machinery<ref name="nasabio" />
• National Audubon Society<ref name="nasabio" />

He was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society and former president of the Houston Audubon Society.<ref name="nasabio" />

Awards and honors

• NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1974)<ref name="nasabio" />
• National Defense Service Medal (1974)<ref name="nasabio" />
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1974)<ref name="nasabio" />
• American Astronautical Society Victor A. Prather Award (1975 and 1985)<ref name="nasabio" />
• NASA Space Flight Medal (1984)<ref name="nasabio" />
• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (1985)<ref name="nasabio" />
• NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (1985)<ref name="nasabio" />
• National Aeronautic Association Collier Trophy (1984)<ref name="nasabio" /><ref name="NASA History">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum Trophy (1985)<ref name="nasabio" />
• Legion of Merit (1988)<ref name="nasabio" />
• International Space Hall of Fame (1995)<ref name=cj>Template:Cite news</ref>
• United States Astronaut Hall of Fame (2005)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was awarded a patent for the design of a tool tethering system that was used during Space Shuttle spacewalks.<ref name="nasabio">Template:Cite webTemplate:PD-notice</ref>

Personal life

File:BruceMcCandlessByPhilKonstantin.jpg

Bruce McCandless, February 2009

McCandless was married to Bernice Doyle McCandless (1937–2014)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for 53 years, and the couple had two children. His recreational interests included electronics, photography, scuba diving, and flying. He also enjoyed cross-country skiing.<ref name="nasabio" />

In an August 2005 Smithsonian magazine article about the MMU photo, McCandless is quoted as saying that the subject's anonymity is its best feature. "I have the sun visor down, so you can't see my face, and that means it could be anybody in there. It's sort of a representation not of Bruce McCandless, but mankind."<ref name="Broache">Footloose Template:Webarchive, Smithsonian, August 2005; Retrieved October 9, 2010</ref>

On September 30, 2010, McCandless launched a lawsuit against British singer Dido for unauthorized use of a photo of his 1984 space flight for the album art of her 2008 album Safe Trip Home, which showed McCandless "free flying" about 320 feet away from the Space Shuttle Challenger.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The lawsuit, which also named Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment and Getty Images as defendants, did not allege copyright infringement but infringement of his persona.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The action was settled amicably on January 14, 2011.<ref>McCandless v. Sony Music Entertainment et al., Case No. CV10-7323-RGK (C.D. Cal.) (Docket No. 4 [Notice Of Settlement And Dismissal With Prejudice], filed January 14, 2011)</ref>

McCandless wrote the foreword to the book Live TV from Orbit by Dwight Steven-Boniecki.<ref>2014, Apogee Books, Template:ISBN</ref>

McCandless died on December 21, 2017, at age 80.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was survived by his second wife, Ellen Shields McCandless, two children and two grandchildren.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McCandless was buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery at Annapolis on January 16, 2018.

McCandless' son, author Bruce McCandless III, wrote about the journey leading to the first untethered spacewalk in the 2021 book Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space.

Legacy

John McCain, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy with McCandless in the Class of 1958, stated after McCandless' death:<ref name=Guardian>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lockheed Martin later developed the McCandless Lunar Lander and named it after him. This honored him as an esteemed employee of the company, and also the fact that the MMU spacewalk was facilitated by the jetpack developed by Lockheed Martin.

See also

• List of spaceflight records
• The Astronaut Monument

External links

• Astronautix biography of Bruce McCandless
• McCandless at Encyclopedia of Science
• Bruce McCandless famous spacewalk NASA channel on YouTube