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41B_v_c_o_TPMBK (S-84-27216, 41B-21-850 eq)

“41-B ONBOARD SCENE OF EVA---Astronaut Robert L. Stewart, 41-B mission specialist, uses hand controls on his nitrogen-propelled backpack, called a manned maneuvering unit, to move above the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. In the midst of darkness, Stewart is only one of three visible objects in the photo. A TV camera is lower right edge and the shield for the Westar VI satellite is nearby.”

 

This is such a unique & cool view. Per/at the following link, it's supposedly taken by the fixed camera in Bruce McCandless's helmet. Although taken by McCandless, since the perspective is too low to have been taken from the aft-facing flight deck windows, it possibly was by the fixed camera, However, the fixed camera is attached to the MMU itself. The video camera is the one in the helmet.

The fixed still camera is quite conspicuous & easily identifiable. In this photograph of MMU no. 2, it's the appendage sticking out from the upper left corner of it.

 

I assume the following is a raw image, unless a nearby unreported UFO was emitting the green glow:

 

nara.getarchive.net/media/41b-21-850-sts-41b-view-of-astr...

Credit: NARA website

 

Possibly the only correct statement at the above link is "Stewart flies the MMU down the payload bay to the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) 01A."

Regardless, interesting trivia, paraphrased from the Astronautix website, at:

 

www.astronautix.com/s/sts-41-b.html

 

The German-built SPAS-01A, first flown on STS-7, became the first satellite refurbished & flown again. Unfortunately, it remained in the payload bay due to an electrical problem with the Remote Manipulator System (RMS).

 

Better, although low resolution:

 

www.astronautix.com/graphics/1/10061777.jpg

Credit: Astronautix website

 

Would both Astronauts be wearing their respective MMUs simultaneously during the same EVA? I seriously doubt it...but who knows. If one seriously malfunctioned, I suppose you’d need the guy with the good one equally ‘suited up’ to render aid.

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Uploaded on September 29, 2022