MMU

MANNED MANEUVERING
UNIT

NASA's manned maneuvering unit (MMU) made its maiden flight (STS-41-B) aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1984. Piloted by astronaut Bruce McCandless, it became the first untethered, powered free-flight of a human in space.

Landmarks (something that is recognizable to most people) are critical if you want your audience to believe that your computer-generated world is real; or at least plausible. Up to this point my primitive (utilizing simple shapes) 3D-based software could handle it, but now I needed to create something more organic. I’ve learned to compensate for the model's shortcomings.
 

[LEFT] The finished generic spacesuit; complete with decals, mirrored visor, and working helmet lights (see: below, left). [MIDDLE] The MMU (seen here w/spacesuit) used two high-pressure nitrogen gas tanks for propellant. Hand controllers (one on each arm) provided transitional (angle up or down) and rotation control. I added formation lights and a large number "2" on the back. [RIGHT] A composite view of the spacesuit "snapped" into the MMU.
 

[LEFT] A test shot of the spacesuit opening the hatch on the two-meter cargo dock. [MIDDLE] A scale rendering of the MMU in free-flight next to one of Tycho's lateral cargo docks; once again a NASA image is used as the backdrop (catalog number unknown). [RIGHT] In this rendering, the background image is reflecting off the model's mirrored visor.
 

The MMU saw only about ten and a half hours of service, after the death of Challenger the units were no longer carried. Today, a smaller unit, known as the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) or Life Vest, mounts to the bottom of the EVA spacesuit's backpack; if an astronaut should become separated and drift away from his craft, he would reach back, retrieve the unit's hand controller, and then fly himself back to the craft.