This photo is often shared and referred to as a “frightening picture”. From the first time I saw this (which happened 40 years ago this Feb. 7) I found it both thrilling and a testament to what human ingenuity can accomplish. To me it also represents how, despite his apparent loneliness in the vastness of space, it took his crew, the NASA team below, and thousands upon thousands of people to make that one act happen.

It should be noted that another astronaut, Bob Stewart, completed a similar mission while both of them were aboard Challenger, flying mission STS-41B. There does not seem to be a photo of Stewart’s space walk.

He may look lonely out there, but the reality is he’s a member of a huge team of fellow humans who make such a feat possible. I suspect that’s true for just about all of us if we’re to be successful.