The crew of the Polaris Dawn SpaceX’s SpaceX SpaceX SpaceX Space Shuttle completes its fifth day in orbit, having achieved some record-breaking milestones on a historic journey — including the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
Taking a spacewalk is nothing new. NASA has been conducting activities in outer space since 1965, when the Gemini program debuted the possibility for the United States.
Since then, astronauts around the world have used spacewalk technology to explore the surface of the Moon, maintain the Hubble Space Telescope and help build the International Space Station.
Today, a spacewalk, also called an extravehicular activity or EVA, is still routinely used at the orbiting laboratory to allow astronauts to maintain their aging exterior.
But SpaceX demonstrated on Thursday that conducting a spacewalk is a task that can be performed by the corporate sector, not just government astronauts. In doing so, Elon Musk’s company took a big step toward commercializing such activities.
It was the first time a private space mission had attempted such a venture. And while the crew members didn’t venture far beyond the vehicle, they pushed boundaries and took considerable risks.
Exposed to the void of space
During the high-risk event, the Crew Dragon capsule was fully depressurized before the entire crew — including Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, former U.S. Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis — were exposed to the vacuum of space.
Isaacman and Gillis then exited the vehicle for about 10 minutes each, performing a series of tests to understand the functionality of their EVA suits, before retreating inside the spacecraft and locking the circular hatch.
The dangers and risks involved in the spacewalk were enormous.
A wrong move during a crucial “pre-breathing” process in preparation for the spacewalk could have put the crew at risk of suffering from “decompression sickness” — a condition experienced by divers that involves the formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood.
The crew also put the EVA suits — designed and developed by SpaceX in just 2 1/2 years — to the ultimate test. The suits had to protect them from the extreme temperatures of outer space, as well as remain pressurized and channel oxygen supplies to all four crew members.
But the spacewalk appeared to go off without a hitch. Isaacman reported after his first look outside the spacecraft: “Back home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here — it looks like a perfect world.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also offered congratulations after the spacewalk in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!” Nelson wrote. “Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA’s long-term goal of building a vibrant U.S. space economy.”
The four citizen astronauts will have plenty to celebrate upon their return. Even before the spacewalk, the mission had already set itself apart from other privately funded and operated trips to orbit, which tend to stick to less risky mission profiles or include brief visits to the International Space Station guided by professional astronauts.
The crew also became the first group of people to venture into the lower reaches of the Van Allen radiation belts in five decades.
Polaris Dawn reaches the radiation belts
The Van Allen belts trap concentrations of high-energy particles that come from the Sun and interact with Earth’s atmosphere, creating two dangerous bands of radiation, according to NASA.
After the crew launched into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket last Tuesday, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule immediately began raising its position, using onboard engines to place itself into an oval orbit that extends up to 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) from Earth.
This altitude is well within the inner band of the Van Allen radiation belts, which begin about 1,000 kilometers above Earth.
The mission’s apogee — or farthest point from Earth — made Gillis and Menon the first women to travel so far from our planet.
The apogee also marked the furthest distance any human has traveled since NASA’s Apollo program ended in 1972, and was the highest orbit around Earth ever achieved, surpassing the record set in 1966 by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission, which reached 1,373 kilometers.
Coming home
After completing about six orbits around the planet with the crew safely ensconced inside, the Crew Dragon capsule fired its engines again to slow its orbital trajectory. Thursday’s spacewalk occurred as the vehicle orbited between 115 and 450 miles (185 and 732 kilometers) above Earth.
The most perilous part of the journey may be over, but the Polaris Dawn crew still has one major milestone ahead of them: returning home. The team is set to return to Earth, landing off the coast of Florida aboard the Crew Dragon capsule this weekend.
Mission commander Isaacman — who also led and partially funded this mission into orbit — previously told CNN that the Polaris Dawn crew would only have about five or six days of life support on the vehicle.
This would mean that the return to Earth could occur in the early hours of Sunday or early Monday morning.
Landing could occur at any of seven potential sites on the east and west coasts of Florida, as with all Crew Dragon missions returning to Earth.
Meet the Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will “save” astronauts from Starliner
This content was originally published in A giant leap for companies? Understand why Polaris Dawn made history on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
