This is what astronaut Ed White used to maneuver himself on the first American spacewalk in 1965, on Gemini 4.

Space travel has come along way since contraptions like this. On June 3, 1965 Ed White became the first American to walk in space, and he did it with an instrument that looked like this:

Ed was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his flight in Gemini 4 and then awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

Here’s another cool picture of Ed space walking: