Polaris Dawn Crew of SpaceX Makes History in First Private Spacewalk

The Polaris Dawn crew from SpaceX has made history by completing the first-ever private spacewalk, marking a significant achievement in space exploration. This mission highlights the growing role of private companies in space ventures, further advancing human spaceflight capabilities and setting new milestones for future private and commercial space missions. It demonstrates SpaceX's pioneering contributions to space exploration.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, headed by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, took off on Tuesday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. This mission ventured further into space than any human has in the past fifty years, dating back to the Apollo era.

A pioneering private crew made history on Thursday by completing the first-ever commercial spacewalk, with NASA praising it as a significant advancement for the space industry.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched on Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, venturing further into space than any humans have in over 50 years, since the Apollo era.

With the Dragon spacecraft orbiting at 434 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth, the crew's extravehicular activity (EVA) officially began at 1012 GMT when pure oxygen was pumped into their suits.

Shortly afterward, Isaacman opened the hatch, stepping out and gripping the structure known as "Skywalker," while gazing at the stunning view of Earth below.

"SpaceX, back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Isaacman told mission control in Hawthorne, California, where applause broke out.

This marked another major achievement for SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. By 2020, SpaceX had surpassed Boeing by successfully delivering a spacecraft for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

NASA chief Bill Nelson called the event "a giant leap forward" for the commercial space sector and NASA's vision of a robust U.S. space economy.

Prior to the spacewalk, the crew underwent nitrogen removal procedures and gradually reduced cabin pressure to match space conditions. Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis took turns testing SpaceX's advanced spacesuits, equipped with heads-up displays, helmet cameras, and improved mobility.

The EVA lasted for one hour and 46 minutes before the spacecraft was re-pressurized. Despite the milestone, it didn't quite match the daring spacewalks of earlier eras, like Alexei Leonov's tethered walk in 1965 or Space Shuttle astronauts using jetpacks to fly untethered.

Since Dragon lacks an airlock, the entire crew was exposed to space. Mission pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon stayed strapped in, monitoring vital systems. The spacewalk posed considerable risks, but experts saw it as a remarkable commercial achievement.

This was the first of three Polaris missions, with the Dragon reaching a peak altitude of 870 miles, far beyond the International Space Station, in a region filled with dangerous particles.

The crew had trained for over two years, preparing through simulators, skydiving, scuba diving, and climbing a volcano in Ecuador.

Future tasks for the crew include testing laser-based communications with SpaceX's Starlink satellites and conducting numerous experiments, such as testing contact lenses embedded with microelectronics to measure changes in eye pressure in space.

Polaris Dawn is the first in a series of missions led by Isaacman in partnership with SpaceX. Financial details of the collaboration are undisclosed, though Isaacman reportedly invested $200 million in the 2021 all-civilian SpaceX Inspiration4 mission.

The final Polaris mission aims to be the first crewed flight of SpaceX's Starship, a rocket crucial to Elon Musk's goal of colonizing Mars.

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Source: NDTV‍