Saturday, December 23, it became known about the death of American astronaut Bruce McCandless.
He died on 21 December aged 80 years.
McCandless became the first person in history who worked in space in free flight, without a mechanical connection with the vehicle.
It happened in 1984 during the flight, the space Shuttle “Challenger”. In addition, the McCandless in 1990 participated in the launch into orbit of the space telescope “Hubble”. This mission carried the crew of space Shuttle “discovery”.
My condolences in connection with death of the astronaut brought Senator John McCain. They studied together with Bruce McCandless in the naval Academy of the United States. “That famous photo of Bruce flying in space inspired a generation of Americans the idea that there is no limit to human potential,” McCain said.
Bruce McCandless was born on 8 June 1937 in Boston. After school followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, became a United States Navy officer. Served in the Navy for two American aircraft carriers as a fighter pilot. At the age of 28 years were selected for the NASA astronaut corps, becoming the youngest of them.
Bruce was married to Bernice Doyle. They lived together for 53 years and raised two sons. McCandless was fascinated with electronics, photography, scuba diving, skiing.
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