This 'most-terrifying space photo' ever by NASA will give you goosebumps; check viral Tweet of the historic moment

Recently, a Twitter account shared the “most-terrifying space photograph” ever taken by NASA. The image shows astronaut Bruce McCandless II floating untethered in space. The tweet has now gone viral.

A NASA photograph went viral on Twitter which was captioned as “the most-terrifying space photograph” ever. The tweet has accumulated more than 209K likes. (NASA)

The universe is both astonishing and terrifying. From black holes, strange planets, gigantic stars to asteroids and meteors, space is filled with emotion provoking objects. However, on June 20th, a Twitter account posted a NASA photo that is now being called the “most-terrifying space photograph” ever. Surprisingly, the image is not of any of the abovementioned celestial bodies. It displays an astronaut wearing his space-suit and floating in space, without any cables which connect him to the spacecraft. If something had gone wrong, the astronaut would not have been able to return and would have died in space as there would have been no possibility of rescue. This surreal image of an astronaut against the backdrop of vast space filled with darkness with the Earth seemingly moving away has now gone viral with the tweet receiving more than 200K likes as of now.

The terrifying NASA photograph goes viral on Twitter

The now viral tweet was shared on the microblogging website on June 20th by Sciencenature14. The image was captioned with the text that said, “Perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats completely untethered, away from the safety of the space shuttle, with nothing but his Manned Maneuvering Unit keeping him alive. The first person in history to do so”.

To add more context to the image, it was taken 38 years ago in February 1984. The astronaut pictured is Bruce McCandless II who was aboard the NASA Challenger space shuttle. The photograph was taken while he was undergoing a drill for satellite-repair. The iconic NASA photograph has now become a viral tweet.

At the moment of writing this, the post has 27.6K retweets and 209K likes. One netizen replied to the post saying, “This represents a level of trust in people and technology that I will never have”.

Perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date. Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats completely untethered, away from the safety of the space shuttle, with nothing but his Manned Maneuvering Unit keeping him alive. The first person in history to do so.
Credit: NASA pic.twitter.com/uapVOFwS2u

— Curiosity (@Sciencenature14) June 20, 2022

According to a New York Times article in 1984, the astronaut was 170 miles above the Earth when the photograph was taken. Along with the spaceship, McCandless II was also moving at the speed of 17,500 miles per hour despite being outside of it as there is no friction in space to slow him down.