SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission successfully completes first-ever private spacewalk



SpaceX, a space development company founded by Elon Musk, is working on the mission 'Polaris Dawn', which aims to conduct extravehicular activities by private citizens, and on September 9, 2024 local time, a spacecraft carrying four private astronauts

was launched . Then, on September 12 local time, the first spacewalk in history by private astronauts was realized.



- SpaceX - Launches
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=polarisdawn

SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts conduct the first-ever private spacewalk : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/12/g-s1-22253/watch-spacewalk-spacex-astronauts

The four people who participated in the Polaris Dawn mission were, from left to right, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, electronic payment company Shift4 founder Jared Isaacman, former Air Force pilot Kidd Poteet, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon.



According to SpaceX, the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four private astronauts began preparations for decompression immediately after launch. The process involved slowly increasing the oxygen level in the cabin while decompressing, and took two days to get the astronauts used to spacewalking.

Once their bodies had acclimatized, the crew prepared to don their extravehicular activity suits, check for air leaks in the spacecraft, and deflate the air in the Crew Dragon, located 732 km above the Earth. Then, at 7:58 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on September 12, the Crew Dragon hatch was opened, and the four became the first civilians to be exposed to outer space.

Below is a video of the moment the hatch was opened. Although the body is not outside the ship, since there is no air remaining inside the ship, the spacewalk is technically a success.



The moment Isaacman leaned out of the hatch and looked at the blue glowing Earth, captured by a camera inside the spacesuit helmet, can be seen below. 'SpaceX, we have a ton of work to do back home, but from here, Earth certainly looks like a perfect world,' Isaacman said.



This is how Isaacman tests the mobility of SpaceX's space suit. SpaceX's space suit does not have a self-contained life support system, but receives oxygen through a cable. Therefore, Isaacman was clinging to a rail that SpaceX named 'Skywalker' while leaning out of the hatch.



Not only Isaacman but also his mission specialist Gillis climbed out of the hatch to conduct extravehicular activities such as testing the maneuverability of the spacesuit. Poteet and Menon were tasked with monitoring key support systems during the mission. After the two completed their extravehicular activities, the hatch was closed and the cabin was repressurized to return air and oxygen to normal levels.

Foreign media NPR reported that the suit received a score of '3' in most of the maneuverability tests, but it was unclear whether this was a '1 to 5' scale or a '1 to 10' scale. Nevertheless, spacewalks are one of the riskiest parts of spaceflight, and they said the mission was a great success for SpaceX.

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in Ride,   Science,   Video, Posted by log1h_ik