On Thursday, a team of private astronauts will make history by conducting the first private spacewalk from a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The spacewalk, part of the ambitious Polaris Dawn mission, is set to begin at 2:23 a.m. ET (0623 GMT) at an altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles), marking a significant step forward in commercial space exploration.
The Polaris Dawn crew consists of four members, led by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, 41, who previously funded and flew on the Inspiration4 mission with SpaceX in 2021. Joining him are mission pilot Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and two SpaceX senior engineers, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman and Gillis will venture outside the capsule for the spacewalk, tethered by oxygen lines, while Poteet and Menon remain inside.
This mission marks the first time non-government astronauts will perform a spacewalk. The procedure involves depressurizing the Crew Dragon capsule and relying entirely on SpaceX-developed spacesuits for life support, a bold step forward in testing new space technologies.
The Polaris Dawn mission aims to push the boundaries of commercial spaceflight, focusing on scientific research and understanding how the human body reacts to deep space conditions. It will add to decades of astronaut health studies conducted on the International Space Station (ISS).
Since 2021, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has been NASA’s primary vehicle for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. While Boeing’s Starliner capsule is also under development, it remains behind schedule, with Crew Dragon handling the bulk of missions, including this groundbreaking private spacewalk.
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