Scientific Asia: Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis step out of the capsule in streamlined spacesuits, hundreds of miles above Earth.
In one of the riskiest endeavors to date to push the limits of commercially sponsored spaceflight, two astronauts have undertaken the first commercial spacewalk and tested scaled-down SpaceX spacesuits.
At 10.52 am GMT on Thursday, billionaire Jared Isaacman, 41, who designed the Polaris Dawn expedition, stepped out of the space capsule hundreds of miles above Earth and at about 30,000 km/h (18,600 mph).
The 41-year-old space enthusiast remarked, “From here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world, but back at home, we all have a lot of work to do.” He was standing on a ladder and gazing down at the surface of the planet.
Sarah Gillis, a veteran engineer at SpaceX who has worked on ground-based missions for years, trailed behind Isaacman. Gillis, 30, tested the suit’s movement to determine how it functions in a space vacuum. The SpaceX suit is a much more portable version of NASA’s equipment.
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The Crew Dragon capsule was fully depressurized to prepare for the test, which was carried out at a height of 700 km (435 miles). As a result, the entire crew, including the two who stayed inside, relied on their spacesuits for oxygen and pressure.
To date, only well-funded government entities have been able to complete spacewalks, also known as extravehicular activities or EVAs. These are renownedly challenging operations. The majority have been completed from the Chinese Tiangong space station and the International Space Station (ISS).
Private corporations are gradually gaining the lead in spaceflight as governments, notably the US government, prefer to spend tax funds elsewhere. SpaceX has been contracted by NASA to place astronauts on the moon this decade, including the first woman.
The second mission that Isaacman has supported is Polaris Dawn. Although he has not disclosed the exact cost, it is expected that the missions will require hundreds of millions of dollars.
The first orbital spaceflight by an all-civilian crew took place in 2021 when the private pilot and newly trained astronaut, who made millions from his electronic payment startup Shift4, took to the skies for the Inspiration4 mission. Two individuals who were part of the mission were a data engineer who won a raffle seat and a cancer survivor.
Musk Elon The flight was managed by SpaceX, which views it as a significant step in lowering the cost and simplifying access to space. Musk intends to return humans to Mars and eventually the moon. His company, Starship, is building the most potent rocket ever constructed. The 120-meter-tall system has completed four test flights. November is when the next is due.
During their five-day journey, Polaris Dawn’s crew will function as test subjects for future deep space travel by traveling through areas of the Van Allen radiation belt and then evaluating the effects of space radiation on their bodies. Along with Scott Poteet, 50, a retired lieutenant colonel from the US Air Force, and 38-year-old SpaceX engineer Anna Menon are also part of the expedition.
Polaris Following Russia’s Soyuz rocket carrying two cosmonauts and one US astronaut to the International Space Station, Dawn’s spacewalk coincided with a record 19 astronauts orbiting Earth.
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