I remember being like 7 or 8 and going to a big science museum, I cant remember which. It had a mock up of this space suit that you could get in and control. It had this picture next to the exhibit and it terrified me. All i kept thinking was what if the propellant leaks or runs out, he would be floating away forever. Really cool exhibit though, made me want to go to space camp.
he would be floating away forever
Stuck in orbit until passing out is kind of a serene way to go.
More nightmarish might be in VLEO where instead he felt a curious tugging on different parts of his suit, as the atmosphere dragged him below orbital velocity. The turbulence would gradually get more severe, tumbling him violently like a rock rolling downhill. If he survives the turbulence, in his last moments he might see the first visual indications of adiabatic heat penetrating his suit, before he begins to come apart in orbit, one piece at a time.
That’s the ultimate sweaty palms moment, if you ask me. I think I’d do better disarming a nuclear bomb or tightrope walking over a volcano. Mad respect for doing this without a tether (I understand it was impractical for this test, anyways).
This picture makes me want to throw up. In a good way, I guess?
It’s funny to think about the first ever of presumably countless future untethered spacewalks happening right now after having seen it countless times in fiction.
