{"id":10017,"date":"2024-09-12T22:40:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/polaris-dawn-crew-gears-up-for-thursday-spacewalk\/"},"modified":"2024-09-12T22:40:38","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T14:40:38","slug":"polaris-dawn-crew-gears-up-for-thursday-spacewalk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/polaris-dawn-crew-gears-up-for-thursday-spacewalk\/","title":{"rendered":"Polaris Dawn crew gears up for Thursday spacewalk"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_67332\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67332\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67332\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_PD_free_float.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_PD_free_float.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_PD_free_float-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_PD_free_float-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_PD_free_float-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-67332\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s impression of a Polaris Dawn astronaut flowing just outside the Crew Dragon capsule in the first commercial spacewalk. Graphic: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in the history of space exploration.<\/p>\n<p>With crewmates Anna Menon and Scott Poteet monitoring safety tethers and umbilicals inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Isaacman and then Gillis plan to float out into open space after depressurizing the spacecraft around 2:23 a.m. EDT, using a scaffold-like \u201cSkywalker\u201d assembly extending just above the hatch for stability.<\/p>\n<p>While their feet will be just outside the capsule, they will not \u201cfree float\u201d away from the Crew Dragon. Their Space-X designed pressure suits are not equipped with their own oxygen supply or other life support equipment and rely on the 12-foot-long umbilicals to deliver air, power and communications.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/daEIqRJLLr8\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As Isaacman and then Gillis float just outside the hatch, they will test the comfort and mobility of their pressurized extra-vehicular activity, or EVA, suits, moving their arms, hands and legs through a series of positions to find out how much effort is required to carry out basic tasks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to make use of various mobility aids the SpaceX team has engineered, and it\u2019ll look like we\u2019re doing a little bit of a dance,\u201d Isaacman said before launch. \u201cThe idea is to learn as much as we possibly can about this suit and get it back to the engineers to inform future suit design evolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameras mounted inside and outside the Crew Dragon, along with others attached to the spacewalkers\u2019 suits, are expected to provide spectacular views of space and the Earth below as the ship sails through an elliptical orbit with a low point of 121 miles and a high point of 458 miles \u2014 200 miles higher than the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of the exercise is to eventually perfect low-cost, easy-to-manufacture spacesuits for use by future civilian astronauts flying to the moon or Mars aboard SpaceX Super Heavy-Starship rockets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that this journey of creating affordable EVA suits that can be scaled up into mass production is a very worthwhile one,\u201d Isaacman said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be an armada of Starships arriving on Mars at some point in the future, and those people are going to have to be able to get out of it and walk around and and do important things.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_67316\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67316\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67316\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240910_Polaris_Dawn_launch_AB-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240910_Polaris_Dawn_launch_AB-1.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240910_Polaris_Dawn_launch_AB-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240910_Polaris_Dawn_launch_AB-1-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240910_Polaris_Dawn_launch_AB-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-67316\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A to begin the Polaris Dawn astronaut mission. Image: Adam Bernstein\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Isaacman, Poteet, Menon and Gillis blasted off Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The crew accomplished the first major goal of the flight right off the bat, climbing to an altitude of 870 miles \u2014 higher than any piloted spacecraft since the Apollo moon program 60 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The high point, or apogee, of the orbit then was lowered to 458 miles for the spacewalk and the remainder of the five-day mission.<\/p>\n<p>To prevent decompression sickness, or the bends, during the crew\u2019s transition from sea-level pressure to the reduced 5 psi pressure in their spacesuits and back, flight controllers began a 45-hour process shortly after launch to boost oxygen levels in the cabin while slowly decreasing air pressure to help remove nitrogen from the crew\u2019s bloodstreams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t anticipate experiencing (the bends), because a ton of robust preparation has gone into developing this pre-breathe protocol, significantly reducing that risk,\u201d said Menon, a former biomedical flight controller for NASA. \u201cBut we\u2019re prepared if we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Crew Dragon does not have an airlock and its life support system was not designed to support spacewalks. Required modifications included \u201cadding a lot more oxygen to the spacecraft so that we can feed oxygen to four suits through umbilicals for the full duration of the spacewalk,\u201d Gillis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been upgrades and additions to the environmental sensing suite in the spacecraft to make sure we have really good insight, both before, during and after exposure to vacuum. And \u2026 an entirely new system, a nitrogen repress system\u201d to boost the cabin back up to normal pressure after the spacewalk.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_67333\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67333\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67333\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_crew_eva_hatch.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_crew_eva_hatch.jpg 800w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_crew_eva_hatch-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_crew_eva_hatch-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_crew_eva_hatch-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-67333\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Polaris Dawn crew looks up through the hatch of a Crew Dragon simulator, framed by a scaffold known as the \u201cSkywalker\u201d that will provide hand and footholds during short spacewalks by mission commander Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis. Gillis is visible at lower left in this photo with Isaacman at upper right. Their crewmates are Anna Menon, upper left, and pilot Scott Poteet, lower right. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Along with the Skywalker scaffold, which extends just beyond the forward hatch, a motor drive system was added to assist with hatch opening and closing and upgraded seals were put in place to ensure an airtight fit.<\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut Ed White carried out the first U.S. spacewalk on June 3, 1965, floating free of his Gemini 4 capsule at the end of a long tether. Since then, NASA astronauts, Russian cosmonauts, Chinese taikonauts and astronauts from space station partner nations have carried out more than 470 government-sponsored spacewalks.<\/p>\n<p>Isaacman said iconic photos of White floating outside his Gemini capsule against the backdrop of Earth and space were inspirational, but he and Gillis ruled out floating free of the Crew Dragon. And that\u2019s by design.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be doing the Ed White float,\u201d Isaacman told CBS News before launch. \u201cThat might look cool, but it doesn\u2019t really help SpaceX learn a lot about the performance (of the spacesuit). It\u2019s not very useful or helpful for figuring out how to be able to to work in a suit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To that end, he and Gillis will work through a \u201cmatrix\u201d of planned motions to get a feel for how the suit\u2019s multiple joints move while pressurized, to test the performance of an innovative heads-up display in the helmet, better understand how the air-cooled suits deal with the extreme temperatures of space and a variety of other factors.<\/p>\n<p>The suit \u201cincludes all sorts of technology, including a heads-up display, a helmet camera, an entirely new architecture for joint mobility,\u201d Gillis said. \u201cThere\u2019s thermal insulation throughout the suit, including a copper and indium tin oxide visor that both provides thermal protection and solar protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, she said, \u201cthere\u2019s all sorts of redundancy, both in the oxygen supply feed to the suit, as well as all of the valves, all of the seals across the suit. It\u2019s an incredible suit.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_67334\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67334\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-67334\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_in_crew_dragon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_in_crew_dragon.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_in_crew_dragon-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_in_crew_dragon-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240911_in_crew_dragon-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-67334\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Polaris Dawn crew (left to right): Anna Menon, pilot Scott \u201cKidd\u201d Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The heads-up display, which will project critical data on the lower left side of the helmet visor, is a feature NASA\u2019s decades old space station suits do not have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the EVA, we\u2019ll have insight into our suit, pressure, temperature, relative humidity and then also an understanding of how much oxygen we\u2019ve used throughout the EVA. So some key pieces of telemetry right there. And it\u2019s it\u2019s really cool (that) with any lighting you can still see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three planned by Isaacman, who owns and pilots his own MiG-29 fighter jet, in cooperation with Musk. The second flight will be another Crew Dragon mission while the third will be the first piloted flight of SpaceX\u2019s huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket, now under development in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not known how much Isaacman is paying for the flights or how much SpaceX funded on its own. Asked if he could share any details, Isaacman said \u201cnot a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mission, SpaceX\u2019s fifth commercial Crew Dragon flight to orbit and its 14th including NASA flights, is expected to last five days, ending with splashdown off the coast of Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s impression of a Polaris Dawn astronaut flowing just outside the Crew Dragon capsule in the first commercial spacewalk. Graphic: SpaceX Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX crew trainer Sarah Gillis prepared to open the forward hatch of their Polaris Dawn spacecraft early Thursday to take turns floating outside in the first non-government spacewalk in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1297,1156,720,1298,1299,1300,316],"class_list":["post-10017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-anna-menon","tag-crew-dragon-resilience","tag-jared-isaacman","tag-polaris-dawn","tag-sarah-gillis","tag-scott-kidd-poteet","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}