Touching the Void: The Story of the Space Jet Pack
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- On February 7, 1984, 370 kilometres above the earth, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II floated into the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Challenger and prepared to make history. Strapped to his back was a bulky device resembling a futuristic chair, known as the Manned Maneuvering Unit or MMU. As he gently touched the joysticks on the twin armrests, jets of nitrogen gas propelled him out of the payload bay and out into the void. In that moment, McCandless achieved the ultimate dream of every astronaut, becoming the first human in history to fly freely and untethered outside the safety of a spacecraft. Rocket packs are a staple of science fiction, allowing heroes and villains alike to zip around freely both in space and on the ground - indeed, where would the Mandalorians in Star Wars be without them? Today, however, Extravehicular Activities or EVAs - AKA “spacewalks” - are always performed with the astronauts safely tethered to their spacecraft. But wouldn’t a space jetpack give them greater mobility? Why aren’t devices like the MMU used anymore? Well, strap into your chair and let’s dive into it all shall we? This is the long and fascinating history of the space jet pack.
Author: Gilles Messier
Host: Simon Whistler
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
0:00 The Story of the Jet Pack
19:42 Getting Stuck Out There
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Just got really good headphones, they are so good I can hear the echo the speakers don’t normally let me hear 😂😂😂 it’s staggering
The video does get something wrong, when it talks about the “maximum speed” of the different versions. It’s probably done to try and simplify what the number actually means, and I know that’s tough, but in this case I really think it got oversimplified to the point that it ends up actually wrong. The numbers they give are actually the “Delta V” the MMU/ASU etc had, with delta meaning change and V being Velocity. There isn’t really a “maximum speed” for anything in space (not counting the speed of light) because there’s no external force like drag to slow it down, so DeltaV is convenient way to measure the total potential energy in the remaining propellant that could be used to accelerate a spacecraft.
Instead of general units of energy like joules it’s given in a more useful form- the amount of velocity change you’d get from using that stored energy to accelerate the total mass of the spacecraft (in this case the Astronaut, suit and maneuvering system) in one direction. It’s true that if you start at 0 velocity (relative to some other object) and accelerate in exactly one direction you’d run out of propellant just as you get to the numbers given, but DeltaV tells the total energy available for any acceleration- rotating, slowing down, changing your direction (accelerating to the side). It’s directly useful to immediately know something like “I’m approaching the other spacecraft at 20 m/s, I will need to use 20 m/s worth of DeltaV from my fuel tanks to slow down”.
Just quoting it as a “maximum speed” suggests like they can accelerate up to that speed repeatedly, slow down/maneuver around for some period of in a way that’s a bit like saying a car has “100 mikes per hour” worth of fuel (not a perfect analogy, space is complicated, but it’s misleading in similar ways).
Not a big deal, and some might think it’s nitpicking, just seemed worth at least mentioning here! It’s the kind of thing that won’t effect the most casual watcher, and space nerds will know what you mean (but also wouldn’t need the simplification), but misleading for the mid ground of someone interested enough to find the details interesting but without the background to know it doesn’t really mean that.
My dad was one of the engineers who designed the MMU, and trained McCandless on the simulator. He was always proud of his work on this project, and would have loved this video.
That's.. incredible! What was his name?
@@coconutsmarties Chester Foat
@@darinfoat8410 Oh WOW he was also involved in Voyager!! That's pretty much my favourite thing that humanity has ever created.. and they both launched years before I was born. Incredible. What a guy Chet was, you must be immensely proud.
And I know it's been over a year but still, sorry for your loss. My gf lost her dad two years ago (on the night we met, actually) and I know that these are still early days for both of you. I hope you are dealing ok.
PS. Lookin good for 54 sir!
This is one of my all-time favorite photos from NASA. I can't imagine what it was like for McCandless to be in his spaceship for one on orbit. The view had to be magnificent but tinged with the fear that something might go wrong with the MMU. The Right Stuff indeed.
I actually use it for the background on my phone.
I’m not sure astronauts are actually capable of feeling fear. Not because of some superhuman trait of character, just because of their incredible professionalism and extensive training, compounded with above average levels of intelligence and self discipline
Always wondered why people say ON orbit instead of IN orbit.
Finally, a goddamn jetpack story, Simon.
Language son
Ikr!
Fuck yeah!
"Do you need your windows cleaned"
That made me miss next 2 minutes of video, laughing
The mentions of Challenger give me goosebumps. That was...a rough day.
Leonov: “F*ck you, Universe!”
Universe: “Aren’t you cute?”
When it comes to Space walks. Give me a leash thanks.
Just look out for suit bloat!
Would save ALOT of tax payers money!!!
Re the bonus fact: Soviet/Russian space capsules from 1986 to 2006 had a special combination shotgun/rifle with a detachable buttstock that was also a machete. Now they just carry a standard 9mm pistol to shoo away the wolves.
13:19 'windows cleaned'... i swear these guys have the best sense of humor lol.
Stepping into space with the MMU, the manned maneuvering unit!
Udvar Hazy is also where the shuttle Discovery is on display. We live close by, and it is an excellent museum! If you are ever in the DC area, you can actually get there via a shuttle bus from the Air and Space museum on the National Mall as well as by driving.
What a wonderful story aboit building a log cabin to protect the Soviet cosmonauts. I'd love to see a photo of the 3 of them around the shelter
“The astronaut had to wear special trousers”
I’ll bet he did mate.
Should be on a history channel.
I was in US Air Force ROTC in college when in January 1967 we were flying
from Floyd Bennett Field, NYC to
Andrew's AFB for a trip in training
and our landing was delayed by the
plane carrying the three brave dead
Astronauts from the Apollo 1 Fire 🔥.
Tragic to say the least.
We were really glad 😊 to visit the
KSC in Jan. 2023 while in Florida.
Very exciting to see launces while
staying nearby on Merritt Island. 😊
Simon is a busy man
I can’t keep up lol
This should he the biggest channel on you tube!!
I'd still want a tether.
The Soviet cosmonaut, Alexi Leonov, showed great skill and ingenuity in dealing with his spaceship reentry problem with his bloated spacesuit. Much respect to him.
3:33
I would love to hear all about this epic space maneuver! 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤🎉🎉🎉
@2:16 Scooty-Puff Jr.
That's terrifying
Fantastic!
Although the brain would tell me that the laws of physics hadn't been repealed, my eyes would tell me that the second I let go of the ship, I would plummet, hurtling toward the unavoidable fate of atmospheric re-entry.
What I find amazing is he is getting out of a spaceship that is orbiting at a million miles an hour though they don’t feel it and they then can not get left where they got out as the spaceship flies off on its orbit ,
I was literally thinking about how astronauts are technically traveling at ridiculous speeds with little more than a space suit. Took me a minute to realize the lack of gravity is the only reason their bodies weren't ripped apart.
It's the same reason you can step out of your seat in an airplane traveling 500 mph and not immediately get slammed into the back of the plane: inertia
@@olanmills64 but if you jump out an aircraft skydiving you do drop pretty fast ? Does the lack of gravity let you stay on the orbits speed as your mass is already moving relative to the spaceship . I know there’s lot of maths and science behind why you stay relative to the space ship but I assumed your lesser mass meant you’d slow much quicker than the larger vessel you climb out of. Haha . I’ll stick to repairing guitars . Space flight is above my pay grade haha
@Johnnybananass-_ there is nothing to make you slow down. Air resistance isn't a thing in a vacuum.
When you jump out of an airplane, you start out traveling forward just as fast as the airplane is going, but since that speed is less than orbital speed, you also fall toward earth. In orbit, you and the spacecraft are also falling, but the curve of your fall is equal to the curve of the earth, so you fall around the planet instead of toward it.
@@QBCPerdition thanks for that explanation, i think i can picture and understand that. always great to be 50 and still learn new stuff about the world around me
Wolf skin boots, that's pretty macho.
Steward: “it only way you could make this easier is if you wired it directly to my brain”
Elon Musk: “hold my flamethrower”
Tom hanks should play Bruce McCandless II in a movie.
McCandless II, Selected for these missions due to his humungous testicles!
Unethered EVA's? They had the very best equipment our Western World could concieve and then create. Heros? Absolutely.
After its introduction I assumed the MMU would be available on all shuttle flights if needed.
I am a water bear
Tard. igrade.
The AMU team definitely had a pair, sending a hydrogen peroxide-fueled unit into orbit. It was probably for the best that this particular design didn't see use by an astronaut, as an HTP/catalyst fuel system can explode violently if something goes wrong. That one didn't go off in an accident during launch was probably down to equal parts good engineering practices and luck.
HTP explosions actually happened on the ground, including the event which (probably) sunk the Kursk in 2000.
Absolutely gutted that the original design never saw the light of day.
Retrieve and take satellites to a higher orbit sounds like it could make the list for one of the most expensive mistakes in history.
WOW what an amazing use of 26 minutes of your completely awesome video. Talk about the "Right Stuff" these men had.
I rem the MMU , they made a big deal over it. There was a doc that honed in on it , then the shuttle blew up Twice.
I expected Simon to use NASA’s pronunciation of gem-in-ee
The reason strong alcohol makes you feel warmer is because it causes the blood vessels to expand. Increased blood flow means the skin becomes flushed. This in turn means you radiate more heat into the environment and less blood is moving through your core.
Love the nasa ones
“That may have been a small step for Neil…”
Pete Conrad; “That son of a bitch stole my line.”
Damn, Gilles, chill with the acronyms lol
This is gonna sound ridiculous, i know my hearing is terrible and I'm sure I'm crazy, buuut.... Does the audio have a slight echo? It's almost like being on the phone with someone, when they walk into a restroom..
Yes it does, but that's nothing new with Simon's channels. I personally don't mind it and actually prefer it over the shows where they get right up into the mic - so as you might imagine it's because he is further away than a lot of others and because of that the mic also captures the ambience of his voice as it bounces around the objects in his studio.
Latest, at this timepoint.
The MMU's lack feasibility and practicality could have easily been foreseen if space exploration's judgment wasn't clouded by the influence of science fiction.
Astronauts are incredible. Not only do you need to be insanely intelligent, but you also need to have balls of titanium.
Considering doing something like that gives me great anxiety knowing how dangerous it actually is
I need to learn more about the Challenger disaster because on the surface, with just the bare minimum info, it kinda looks like somone grabbed at the first excuse they had to cut founding to NASA.
Is there a movie? A young Tom Hanks would have been perfect.
76ms equals about 170mph. That astronaut was cruising, or at least had the capability to do so...
Anyone else notice that he bumbled the Challenger date ???
I think you misspoke. The Challenger accident happened in January not June. I could've heard you wrong though.
The Voshkod was based on the one-man Vostok,. It had the same capsule-size. It was a tin-can that was originally designed to hold only one person. Only for a quick propaganda victory they pressed two people in there. A rush job with enormous risks, like so many in Russian Space Flight.
please bring back the brainfood podcast 💙
I could watch more than 3 min.. I legit got dizzy and almost threw up 😂😂
Thunderball
June 28'th, 1986?? WTF!
Teleprompter fail, the closed captioning has it correct stating January 28th.
I wonder how they inflated the shuttles tyres? They would have had to handle enormous pressure changes.
The Shuttle's main wheels were inflated to a pressure of 23 bar. When the outside pressure changes from 1 to 0 bar, that's not a big difference.
There is just something absolutely terrifying about knowing you are completely un tethered, a slight push and you will keep that speed nothing will slow you down, no one is coming to save you, and the only thing that is capable of taking you back to the space craft is a jet pack built by someone that might have argued with his wife before work or been tired that day and forgot to do something important 😂 floating through space probably spinning from your frantic attempts to stop knowing that you are going to continue that way until you hit something or suffocate from running out of gas, absolutely terrifying to me, there is no painless way out either, opening your suit could be much worse, I would hope that CO2 builds up putting me to sleep rather than running out of oxygen, but it wouldn't happen like that the CO2 scrubber would greatly outlast the oxygen supply 😢
When we try to hold our breath and get that anxious/panicky/ticklish feeling, it's indicating 'too much co2 in the system'
We don't have any built-in mechanisms for 'no more o2' sense
In a way, if the suit scrubs co2, it would be very peaceful (physical sensations wise) departure
Ur a space jet pack!
fyi ISS spacewalkers are tethered by a strap they move as they work. far different from Gemini walks
Giving the Universe the finger by daring to exist in its Void. Lol.
for space you don't need jet
Megaproject video?
WAS I NEVER WATCHING HIS ORIGINAL CHANNEL?? How many channels do they have? I think I'm up to five.
Seems like more than 5 to me.
Oh way more, look into bio graphics and geographics
You've got at least another 20 to go
I really don't like the background music, or at least the volume of it.
I only made it two and a half minutes.
Cool Topic tho!
No harry it isn't Nasarrrr, it's Nasssssaaaaaa....
Is "NASER" the same as NASA? I cant tell from your accent
please stop the music
when your space suit becomes too bloated to fit into the airlock, your space suit becomes the airlock and you must hold your breath for longer than comfortable.
o horrible though.
imaging just working on ur ship and for whatever reason now u drifting away in nothingness.
getting farther and farther until u all alone .
Challenger ...February not June
January actually...
Build a space jet pack with em drive and oxygen filtration. Wpuld give astronaut hours of operation.
“MANNED Maneuvering Unit”
Those were the days!
(Yeah, I know)
People really don't seem to understand that if an astronaut starts floating away from the ship untethered it would be really easy to maneuver the ship to intercept them. Spaceships always have spare fuel and don't require a lot of it to do small corrections
Ah, very easy? And you think you can do that? Then I know who to never accept in the pilot seat!
@@MichaelWinter-ss6lx Easy for trained professionals you dummy, your nay-saying isn't gonna prevent it from being the truth. Even the ISS (which is a space STATION) can move hundreds of ft just to avoid debris, that's a routine operation and you'd knew that if you weren't so thick.
P. S. Ah yes I forgot why I stopped watching Simon's channel. The collective level of intellect in the comment section of his videos would make an average Instagram sh*tpost look half decent.
@@MichaelWinter-ss6lx Easy for trained professionals you dummy, your nay-saying isn't gonna prevent it from being the truth. Even the ISS (which is a space STATION) can move hundreds of ft just to avoid debris, that's a routine operation and you'd knew that if you weren't so thick.
@@MichaelWinter-ss6lx Easy for trained professionals smarty-pants, your nay-saying isn't gonna prevent it from being the truth. Even the ISS (which is a space STATION) can move hundreds of ft just to avoid debris, that's a routine operation and you'd knew that if you weren't so thick.
@MichaelWinter-ss6lx Easy for trained professionals smarty-pants, your nay-saying isn't gonna prevent it from being the truth. Even the ISS (which is a space STATION) can move hundreds of ft just to avoid debris, that's a routine operation and you'd knew that if you weren't so thick.
They did a pretty good job of copying my design. I drew that up in the 70s while in junior high.
When I was in school, I made a model of a space plane that looked very much like the Space Shuttle. This was in the 1950s.
@@spaceman081447 Yeah, gotta remember those patents dang it.
Are you an AI rendering?
They built a cabin. They couldn't get them out in one day.
1965? Could the US have gotten them out of Northern Canada in one day.?
Probably not. Thick wilderness in extreme conditions does not suit itself to aviation.
Space travel is still far off in this century but we've got a good start
SpaceX is doing what the German rocket team wanted 80 years ago. Or what NASA should have done in the '70s. There should be a real space economy by 2050.
Space travel is happening now and has been since the 1960s.
do you think he can talk faster?... asking for a friend.
That's what the playback speed setting is for.
@@zounds010 ive only used playback speed to watch car crashes in super slo motion or police activity videos on how things played out.
@@cresshead I often watch documentaries at 1.25 x speed.
1:33 .... Too heavy? For use in space?! 😅
Are you stupid
Too heavy to send to space 🤦
Not only does weight/mass require more expensive to get up into space, it also requires more energy to move it and change direction and stuff, not to mention accommodating its size in cargo areas, being able to unload it safely in space, then load it back and secure it later etc
So are we still talking about The US Had humans on Moon and now with all the technology we can't land a robot the size of a dishwasher on moon???
Just food for thought 😂
IM-1 failed because they ignored the lessons learned by NASA and made a rookie mistake.
first
That's so old now dude.... Noone cares 😅
@@TheAshCooperthey are just telling us what grade they are in.
Script writer never gonna live operation paperclip down
I hate the metric system lol
I feel the same about imperial - though I've mostly gotten a hung of rough estimates and can speak using that now if need be. Imperial is just straight up nonsense when it comes to mathematical conversions between units, especially between volume and mass. Everything is some kinda division by 1, 10, 100 and so one, and then just prepend the latin designation for it. Deciliter is 1/10 of a liter, for example. a kilometer is 1000 (kilo) meters. It's not all butterflies and sunshine, but it beats the alternative. I'm sure you've heard this a million times, though, and it obviously doesn't change what you're familiar with and how you feel, just thought I'd share my sentiment - it's a comment section after all.
Metric is good for some things and imperial is good for other things. In the uk we do actually use both. Miles for distance, pints for beers etc
Personally i use Fahrenheit during the summer and centigrade during the winter. Feet and inches for height, millimetres for small distance measurement. Stone and pounds for my weight. Kilograms in the gym.
Thousands of an inch for gapping points in a distributor.