Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis completed the first privately funded spacewalk on Thursday — a critical aspect of a risky, somewhat problematic mission designed to test new SpaceX technology, gather valuable information about high-altitude space travel, and generally Pushed the limits of space. explore
The mission, named Polaris Dawn, was supposed to launch in late August, but has been postponed due to safety concerns. But on Tuesday, Isaacman and Gillis — along with two other crew members, former Air Force pilot Scott Potitt and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon — Finally take off.
Since then, astronauts have traveled nearly 870 miles from Earth, making Polaris Dawn the farthest crewed space mission ever. Apollo 17 mission to the moon in 1972. They came closer to Earth for Thursday’s spacewalk — away from the high radiation levels they encountered at the farthest point of their journey.
“Back home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, the world sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman DrIts SpaceX crew observes the planet from outside the Dragon spacecraft on Thursday.
Although the spacewalk was completed, the astronauts were not. Their mission is scheduled for five days — much shorter than typical NASA missions that can last weeks or months — but still includes dozens of experiments and, critically, safely reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
Why is SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission so groundbreaking?
SpaceX’s current mission is believed to be the first of three Polaris missions, all funded by Elon Musk’s space company IsaacMan and SpaceX.
The goal of the Polaris mission series is to help SpaceX develop the skills and technology necessary to achieve its long-term goal of sending humans to Mars. The company hoped that this first mission would be a useful test of the spacecraft and its instruments’ ability to survive the extreme conditions of space, especially as it passes through space. Van Allen radiation belt, Regions of space that surround planets and are highly radioactive. They were first detected on a US space mission in 1958, and their highly charged, energetic particles can damage spacecraft instruments.
The crew traveled through the Van Allen Belt at the farthest point of their journey, and, so far, the technology aboard the capsule — and the astronauts — appear to have resisted that radiation.
The trip was also a test of SpaceX’s latest spacesuit design, which had been designed In just two and a half years — a surprisingly quick turnaround by space exploration standards — and has made NASA famous for upgrading to massive suits. Instead of integrating life support systems into the suit, as at NASA, SpaceX’s new suits connect to a spacecraft via a tube — the same functionality that Polaris Dawn astronauts Isaacman and Gillis all used to breathe during their spacewalks.
This is because although only Isaacman and Gillis exited the ship, all four astronauts were exposed to space (and that means, technically, Four astronauts have completed a spacewalk) to complete the spacewalk, Isaacman and Gillis had to open the exit hatch of the Crew Dragon, exposing everyone inside to the void. Although that was once Astronauts’ preferred way of leaving In their spacecraft, modern astronauts typically exit through an airlock mechanism, with two doors separated by a chamber to prevent the vacuum of space from entering the spacecraft.
Exit through the hatch appeared to be a success, and future missions may be simulated to avoid the need for airlocks. During the walk – which saw Isaacman and Gillis floating freely through space rather than exiting the crew capsule on a special ladder – the astronauts completed a series of tests to test the suit’s maneuverability and performance.
The suits were a special area for this mission not only because they were new, but because SpaceX saw getting a cheap, reliable spacesuit design down pat as key to its long-term mission to support mass human colonization of space.
“Building a base on the Moon and a city on Mars will require millions of spacesuits; developing these suits and executing EVA will be important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions.” The company wrote on its website.
During their final days in space, the astronauts will conduct other experiments to support that long-term goal, including some related Motion sickness And some focus on communication testing SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are involved. On Earth, they are used to provide Internet services, especially to remote locations; Astronauts will conduct some preliminary tests to test the satellite’s usefulness in communicating from space.
After they are completed, all that remains is re-entry — historically one of the The most dangerous part of the spacecraft. time was NASA’s Columbia spacecraft re-enters Demolished in 2003.
Once back, the astronauts will complete a historic mission: the first personal spacewalk, Most astronauts spacewalking at onceAnd Menon and Gillis will be the only women to travel such a distance from Earth.
