True story behind eerie NASA photo that’s still freaking people out 40 years later

The number of people reaching space has been growing, partially thanks to the likes of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

As of March 2025, 721 people have reached the altitude of space, according to the USAF definition; 'a place where the laws of aerodynamics do not apply'.

But one astronaut joined an exclusive rank when he became one of the few to float freely in space without a tether.

Photos of Dale Gardner’s nerve-racking excursion outside the shuttle from more than 40 years ago have recently resurfaced online, and it’s no wonder why.

They show him, untethered, heading towards a huge satellite with the the curvature of the Earth and blackness of space as his backdrop.

In 1984, NASA sent five astronauts on a first-of-its-kind mission to rescue two satellites and deploy another two, in a historical 'two up, two down' mission. Satellites Westar 6 and Palapa B2 were launched earlier that year but had failed to reach the correct orbit, rendering them useless.

The STS-51A crew (NASA)

So Gardener, as well as first ever mom in space, mission specialist Anna Fisher, commander Frederick H. 'Rick' Hauck, pilot David M. Walker, and mission specialist Joseph P. Allen were all launched on the Discovery space shuttle in November 1984.

NASA had developed a plan using what were essentially jetpacks - called Manned Maneuvering Units or MMUs - and a special tool called a 'stinger' to grab the satellites. It sounds like something straight out of a video game, right?

The crew were trained to catch the satellites during spacewalks and bring them back using the shuttle’s robotic arm.

NASA explained that after piloting Discovery close to the Palapa satellite, astronauts Allen and Gardner began the retrieval.

Allen, wearing a jetpack - sorry, MMU - flew out and stopped the 300 kilometer satellite’s spin using the stinger.

It's enough to make your stomach drop... (NASA)

Fisher then used the shuttle’s robotic arm to move Allen and the satellite over the payload bay, where Gardner attempted to secure it.

When the original plan failed due to a clearance issue, the team used a backup method.

Allen held the satellite steady while Gardner attached an adaptor to lock it into place. It took them just six hours to complete the first part of the mission.

On the seventh day, Allen and Gardner swapped roles, with Gardner flying the MMU to capture Westar. They followed the same steps as before but kept the antenna in place to use as a handhold.

The satellite was secured in the payload bay, and the spacewalk wrapped up in five hours and 42 minutes.

In total, the STS-51A crew was in space for almost eight full days, living aboard Discovery and carrying out maintenance tasks in the meantime.

The successful mission proved that astronauts could retrieve and return satellites from orbit. Shame the same can't be said for the poor Lunar Trailblazer satellite...

Dale Gardner had the task of a lifetime (NASA)

STS-51A was the final mission to use MMUs for untethered spacewalks. After that, astronauts didn’t venture out without safety lines again until 1994, when the STS-64 mission tested a new backup device called SAFER (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue).

Since then, all spacewalks on the shuttle and the International Space Station have used tethers, with SAFER carried as a precaution in case of accidental separation.

Gardner passed away in 2014 at the age of 65, but he remains one of the only people in history to have performed an untethered spacewalk to retrieve malfunctioning satellites from orbit.