What would it be like to fly free over the seas and clouds of Earth? In 1994 astronaut Mark Lee [ http://www.jsc.nasa…] found out when he tested the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system for NASA [ http://spaceflight.…]. SAFER [ http://archive.larc…] is a backpack propulsion unit [ http://quest.arc.na…] that incorporates small nitrogen [ http://periodic.lan…] thrusters controlled by hand and moderated by computer. Pictured [ http://grin.hq.nasa…], Lee jets about the bay of Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://science.ksc.…], over 200 kilometers above Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the first untethered space walk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in ten years. Lee was not in danger -- the shuttle could have been used to retrieve him. SAFER [ http://www.spacefli…], smaller than the Manned Maneuvering Unit [ http://ffden-2.phys…], is designed as a backup system to help astronauts [ http://www.jsc.nasa…] in the unlikely event that they become too separated from their work outside the International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlep…].
Explanation
What would it be like to fly free over the seas and clouds of Earth? In 1994 astronaut Mark Lee [ http://www.jsc.nasa…] found out when he tested the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system for NASA [ http://spaceflight.…]. SAFER [ http://archive.larc…] is a backpack propulsion unit [ http://quest.arc.na…] that incorporates small nitrogen [ http://periodic.lan…] thrusters controlled by hand and moderated by computer. Pictured [ http://grin.hq.nasa…], Lee jets about the bay of Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://science.ksc.…], over 200 kilometers above Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the first untethered space walk [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in ten years. Lee was not in danger -- the shuttle could have been used to retrieve him. SAFER [ http://www.spacefli…], smaller than the Manned Maneuvering Unit [ http://ffden-2.phys…], is designed as a backup system to help astronauts [ http://www.jsc.nasa…] in the unlikely event that they become too separated from their work outside the International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlep…].
