S84-27562 (7 Feb. 1984) --- Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, one of two 41B mission specialists participating in a historical Extravehicular Activity (EVA), is a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger in this 70mm frame. This Extravehicular Activity (EVA) represented the first use of a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allows for much greater mobility than that afforded previous spacewalkers who had to use restrictive tethers. Robert L. Stewart later tried out the MMU McCandless is using here, and the two of them tested another similar unit two days later. Inside the spacecraft were astronauts Vance D. Brand, commander; Robert L. Gibson, pilot; and Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist. Photo credit: NASA
S84-27562 (7 Feb. 1984) --- Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, one of two 41B mission specialists participating in a historical Extravehicular Activity (EVA), is a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger in this 70mm frame. This Extravehicular Activity (EVA) represented the first use of a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allows for much greater mobility than that afforded previous spacewalkers who had to use restrictive tethers. Robert L. Stewart later tried out the MMU McCandless is using here, and the two of them tested another similar unit two days later. Inside the spacecraft were astronauts Vance D. Brand, commander; Robert L. Gibson, pilot; and Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist. Photo credit: NASA Credit: NASA photograph

Washington — U.S. astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to free-float untethered on a spacewalk, died Thursday, NASA confirmed on Friday.

He was 80 years old.

During the 1969 Apollo II mission, McCandless also served as the Mission Control communicator for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, who became the first men to walk on the moon.

“McCandless is perhaps best remembered as the subject of a famous NASA photograph, flying alongside the space shuttle in the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU),” according to a NASA profile.

A retired U.S. Navy captain, McCandless joined NASA in 1966, becoming a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 14 mission and backup pilot for the first crewed Skylab mission.

He performed his famous spacewalk in 1984 and in 1990 helped deploy the Hubble Space telescope, which was launched to investigate far-off galaxies.

Of his famous spacewalk, McCandless wrote in 2015: “My wife (Bernice) was at mission control, and there was quite a bit of apprehension. 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.”

Born in Boston, McCandless graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Long Beach, Calif.

He 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 City in 1987.