Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of NASA's first spacewalk

Astronaut Ed White floats in the microgravity of space outside the Gemini IV spacecraft. Behind him is the brilliant blue Earth and its white cloud cover. White is wearing a specially-designed space suit. The visor of the helmet is gold plated to protect him against the unfiltered rays of the sun. In his left hand is a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit with which he controls his movements in space.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of NASA's first spacewalk.

The first time an American astronaut stepped out of an orbiting spacecraft for a spacewalk occurred on June 3, 1965.

Slideshow: 50 Year of Spacewalks

More Information: NASA Suit Up

Astronaut Edward H. White II exited the Gemini IV capsule and floated around the spacecraft. He floated for about 20 minutes from over Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico, making his orbital walk nearly 6,500 miles long.
 
Since the Gemini program astronauts have performed walks during the Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.
 
The longest single spacewalk was in March 2001 when two astronauts aboard the Shuttle Discovery walked for nearly nine hours straight while doing maintenance at the International Space Station.
 
Astronauts completed 82 walks outside the Space Shuttle and 187, to date, outside the International Space Station. A total of 166 hours of spacewalks were carried out to service the Hubble Space Telescope.