First man to fly freely in space travelled at 29,000 km/h
Late NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless became the first person to fly untethered in space on February 7, 1984 when he exited space shuttle Challenger. Using a jet-powered backpack to manoeuvre himself around, McCandless moved in space at a speed of nearly 29,000 km/h and was able to re-enter the space shuttle safely.n