The idea of floating alone in the vast emptiness of space is frightening enough, but one astronaut actually lived it and the chilling moment was captured in one of the most haunting photos ever taken in space.
The late Bruce McCandless II, a NASA astronaut and aviator, cemented his place in history in 1984 by becoming the first human to perform an untethered spacewalk.
McCandless, then 47, joined fellow astronaut Bob Stewart on a Space Shuttle Challenger mission and their task was to deploy two communication satellites.
Strapped into NASA’s Manned Maneuvering Units (MMUs)- jet-powered backpacks that allowed for movement in open space - the astronaut ventured beyond the safety of the spacecraft, and traveled at 28,900 kilometers per hour (18,000 mph).
For nearly seven hours, he floated freely, becoming the first person to drift untethered in the vast emptiness of space.
His historic moment was immortalized in a chilling photograph and video that shows him suspended in the darkness - with planet Earth far below and the infinite blackness of space stretching behind him.
McCandless reflected on the mindblowing moment in an interview with The Guardian, revealing that tensions were high at NASA about the mission.
"My wife was at mission control, and there was quite a bit of apprehension," he said. "I wanted to say something similar to Neil [Armstrong] when he landed on the moon, so I said, 'it may have been a small step for Neil, but it’s a heck of a big leap for me.' That loosened the tension a bit."
While he had been warned about the eerie silence of space, McCandless said his moment of tranquility was interrupted by a flood of voices over his radio. "It wasn’t that peaceful," he remarked.
The astronaut, who moved at breakneck speeds, explained that he didn't feel it since the shuttle was moving just as fast. "It was only when I looked at the Earth that I could tell we were moving fairly rapidly," he added.
At one point, he found himself drifting over the Florida peninsula, and seeing a familiar place far below felt strangely reassuring.
"It was a wonderful feeling, a mix of personal elation and professional pride: it had taken many years to get to that point," he added.
After logging over 312 hours in space, McCandless retired from NASA in 1990 and later worked with Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
In 2017, at the age of 80, he passed away and was buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis.