You might not recognise US astronaut Bruce McCandless but I bet you have seen the picture of him in the Manned Manoeuvrable Unit. In February 1984 (on his first space mission!) McCandless spent 88 minutes out there in the MMU – and untethered. This meant he was utterly alone, relying only on the MMU’s nitrogen propulsion system and his own wits to get him back to the shuttle Challenger. This was the first time anyone had done this. For me, this kind of heroism beats anything any footballer might do.
