The photo of Bruce McCandless went around the world: in 1984, the American astronaut floated in space in his suit, with the Earth in the background, with no connection to his ship. He died on Thursday at age 80.
NASA announced his death on Friday.
Bruce McCandless was the first astronaut to float in the sidereal immensity, thanks to a diving suit equipped with thrusters that allowed him to move in a vacuum, said AFP.
Recruited in 1966 by the US space agency, he also participated in the deployment of the Hubble telescope in 1990.
Already retired he continued to inspire schoolchildren in Toulouse, France, where he participated in October at the 30th World Congress of Astronauts.
Did you feel fear in that first free time in space? "No, I worked very hard, I tried the material for 300 hours," he replied to a small girl. "I had 24 propellers, there was no possibility of getting lost in space," he added.
As for the most extraordinary of his experience, the octogenarian said it was "the vision of the Earth" through his helmet.
"The other most extraordinary thing when you're an astronaut is that you do not see the countries, the borders, you see the humans, the spacecraft Earth."