• Bruce McCandless II was travelling at 17,500 miles per hour alongside his space shuttle as they orbited the Earth.
• This was the first time an astronaut has ever been untethered from the spaceship and walked in space.
• The tweet quickly surpassed 1.5 lakh likes in a single day.

Floating in space may be exhilarating for some, scary for others. A viral space photograph provokes both emotions.

Netizens are fascinated by a Bruce McCandless of astronaut Bruce McCandless II floating in orbit with the blue Earth below him. In February 1984, McCandless II walked out of the Challenger to practise a satellite-repair mission.

This was the first time an astronaut has ever been untethered from the spaceship and walked in space.

McCandless II was 170 miles (273.5 kilometres) above Earth’s surface when this picture was taken. According to the report, McCandless II was travelling at 17,500 miles per hour alongside his space shuttle as they orbited the Earth, but he was unaware of his speed because of the “virtual vacuum of space, he sensed nothing of his speed.”

A popular scientific page with the name @Sciencenature14 tweeted a picture of McCandless II’s spacewalk. The Twitter account tweeted the image and called it “Perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date” The tweet quickly surpassed 1.5 lakh likes in a single day.

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looks mega fail to me lol, do you really believe that photo is real?

— Inti | cryptointi.sol (@KryptoInti) June 20, 2022

Imagine deciding to be the first person in history to do this, but forgetting to unhook the tether, so you accidentally pull the whole spaceship with you into the sun.

— Colin Troy 🇺🇦 (@feetsby) June 20, 2022

Awesome, no neighbors, tv, politics, pandemic, high prices or anything to bother you. This is as far away from people anyone could ever get. pic.twitter.com/ad36IZyFrY

— STEVE JET CITY (@stevejetcity) June 20, 2022

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This one has always given me the chills. Taken by Michael Collins, it contains every human being that has ever existed, except him. pic.twitter.com/8B3oWI3GIb

— Spa Foot (@SpaFoot2) June 20, 2022

Somehow this photo seems as fake as the US landing first on moon in 1969.

— Baji Please (@BajiPlease) June 21, 2022

This represents a level of trust in people and technology that I will never have.

— Overeducated Woman TessaLights💛💙 (@TheRoselleWay) June 20, 2022

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Perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats completely untethered, away from the safety of the space shuttle, with nothing but his Manned Maneuvering Unit keeping him alive. The first person in history to do so.
Credit: NASA pic.twitter.com/uapVOFwS2u

— Curiosity (@Sciencenature14) June 20, 2022

A Twitter user commented on the post, “If I was an astronaut I would do stuff like this for the sole purpose of taking photos for Instagram and captioning them like “In My Own Lane.”

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