Two private astronauts will undertake the first civilian spacewalk in low Earth orbit after four astronauts open the hatch and expose the crew capsule to space.
Polaris Dawn launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After around two days in orbit, two astronauts will wear new spacesuits to travel outside the Dragon spacecraft. Private crews have never tried the orbital stunt, which might lead to more daring space missions.
The SpaceX website and X account will livestream the spacewalk on Thursday at 2:23 a.m. ET.
Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman led the four-person crew on a Dragon spaceship, which reached greater heights than any prior SpaceX crew capsule. Dragon achieved a maximum orbit of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) on Wednesday, performing six circles of Earth, shattering NASA’s Gemini 11 record set in 1966.
SpaceX stated on X that Dragon executed four fires to descend itself to 118 by 461 miles (190 by 742 kilometers) for the spacewalk after achieving apogee. The Dragon crew capsule will descend to 430 miles (700 km) above Earth on Thursday for the anticipated event.
Two crew members will jump from Dragon into space. However, more than 50% of the crew will prepare for the spacewalk. Since Dragon has no airlock, the whole spacecraft must be depressurized and subjected to space vacuum to prepare people for outside pressure. The whole crew will wear survival spacesuits during extravehicular activities.
New SpaceX spacesuits were made for this occasion. SpaceX introduced new spacesuits in May, an enhanced version of Dragon’s suits with extravehicular capabilities. Isaacman launched with SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon and veteran Air Force pilot Scott Poteet. The crew has trained for two years for the spacewalk, but it’s unclear which two will go.
In addition to the extravehicular journey, Polaris Dawn will conduct over 30 scientific experiments in orbit. The mission focuses on astronaut health and long-duration crew preparation. A blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature monitor was among NASA’s experiments sent with the crew. The crew will report motion sickness, mental and physical health, and reentry injuries to NASA after landing.
Dragon’s altitude allowed Polaris Dawn to enter the Van Allen radiation belts, an area of powerful charged particles 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) above Earth. NASA says the radiation belts’ trapped particles ring Earth like a giant donut, making this region a major risk for future crewed Mars missions. Mission responsibilities include testing the region’s radiation on astronaut health.
Polaris Dawn will also be the first to test SpaceX’s Starlink laser-based communication system, which sends data between satellites at light speed. The business wants to build communication technologies for Moon and Mars expeditions.
After finishing their tasks in orbit, the astronauts may splash down off Florida this Saturday. Isaacman bought Polaris Dawn, the first of three private missions. Depending on how this goes, the following two should be intriguing.
CREDIT: Allneeds, GIZMODO
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