A Flying Astronaut Over Earth
Credit:
Shuttle Crew STS-64,
NASA
What would it be like to fly free over the seas and clouds of Earth?
In 1994
astronaut Mark Lee found out when he tested the
Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system for
NASA.
SAFER is a
backpack propulsion unit that incorporates small
nitrogen thrusters controlled by hand and moderated by computer.
Pictured, Lee jets about the bay of
Space Shuttle Discovery, over 200 kilometers above
Earth in the first
untethered space walk in ten years.
Lee was not in danger -- the shuttle could have
been used to retrieve him.
SAFER, smaller than the
Manned Maneuvering Unit, is designed as a
backup system to help
astronauts
in the unlikely event that they become too separated
from their work outside the
International Space Station.