This first-of-its-kind private spacewalk will bring some serious style to outer space.
SpaceX’s privately funded crewed mission, Polaris Dawn, is moving toward launch sometime this summer. The four-person crew, which includes the mission’s funder, billionaire philanthropist Jared Isaacman, recently completed acceptance testing of SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, which they will wear when they become the first private citizens to perform a spacewalk in orbit.
In addition to Isaacman, the crew includes two SpaceX lead operations engineers, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, serving as mission specialists, and the mission’s pilot, retired United States Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kid” Poteet. Training for their upcoming mission included hands-on work developing SpaceX’s new EVA suit, which recently reached its final major development milestone when the crew donned their suits in a vacuum for the first time.
“The crew of Polaris Dawn recently completed a series of suit acceptance tests in preparation for the mission’s extravehicular activity,” reads an update on the mission’s website. Wearing their EVA suits in a vacuum for the first time allowed SpaceX to collect a variety of data ahead of the crew’s upcoming mission, when they will wear the suits in the vacuum of space.
According to the Polaris website, the vacuum environment has allowed SpaceX to gather a range of data about what to expect during an actual EVA:
- “Introduction to Space Suit Operation in Vacuum;
- Collection of spacesuit and biometric data to assess overall system performance in a flight-like environment;
- Understanding the general impact of pressure changes on their body during pressurized operations;
- Insight into the various thermal conditions expected during the spacewalk; and
- An increased metabolic period for the crew to simulate the expected workload during the spacewalk, as well as a reduced activity period to understand the trend of body temperatures during the operation.”
A number of photos from the test were posted on Polaris Porgram’s Flickr account, showing off SpaceX’s sleek new, yet familiar, spacesuit design. Polaris Dawn is a follow-up mission to SpaceX’s first private launch of astronauts, Inspiration4, also funded by Isaacman, and the first of three potential missions for the Polaris program. Each will help raise funds for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Connected: SpaceX Unveils New EVA Suit for 1st Private Spacewalk on Upcoming Polaris Dawn Space Flight (Video)
The first images of SpaceX’s EVA suit, which from the outside looks like a bulkier version of their Intravehicular Activity Suits (IVAs) – pressurized suits worn during spacecraft launch and landing, but not designed to operate in the open vacuum of space — were revealed on the company’s website on May 4.
But new images of the Polaris Dawn from recent tests highlight some of the differences between the IVA and EVA suits.
In particular, the suit’s helmet has received some upgrades, including a new heads-up display for astronauts to view data such as the internal pressure, temperature and humidity of their suits. SpaceX’s EVA suits also feature new insulation materials and joint improvements for increased mobility and temperature control.
Connected: Meet the four private Polaris Dawn astronauts that SpaceX will launch into orbit this year
Polaris Dawn is scheduled to last five days and will include nearly 40 different science experiments for the crew to conduct while in space, including testing the new EVA suits and the capabilities of their Crew Dragon spacecraft while exposed to vacuum.
We’re targeting no earlier than July 31st for Polaris Dawn release pic.twitter.com/gVicWmMNE5July 3, 2024
The Polaris team is targeting no earlier than July 31 for the launch of their historic mission, according to a July 3 post on X, but that date may be very tentative after a recent incident during the launch of a set of SpaceX Starlink satellites.
The July 11 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 additions to the company’s Internet satellite megaconstellation ended in failure, with the second stage suffering a phenomenon that resulted in the catastrophic loss of the entire payload. As a result, all Falcon 9 launches have been suspended pending the results of investigations by SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Falcon 9 grounding could also have implications for NASA’s upcoming missions to the International Space Station (ISS), which was scheduled to launch both a cargo mission and a crewed mission to the space station in the coming months.
