An astronaut caught a satellite with his bare hands (2 photos + video)

During the STS-51-A shuttle mission, astronauts were tasked with returning two satellites—Westar 6 and Palapa B2—to Earth. They were in inoperative orbits and rendered useless. The satellites were captured using a special "stinger" system, but to load them onto the shuttle, their rotation had to be stopped. To do this, the astronauts flew to the satellite, grabbed it by hand, and used the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) system to stop its rotation. This moment—the capture of Westar 6—was captured in this video. The entire operation was performed without a safety net. After returning to Earth, Westar 6 was resold to AsiaSat in Hong Kong, and after repairs, it was relaunched into orbit on April 7, 1990. The video has been sped up twice.