private spacewalk – Artifex.News https://artifexnews.net Stay Connected. Stay Informed. Tue, 17 Sep 2024 09:26:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://artifexnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Artifex-Round-32x32.png private spacewalk – Artifex.News https://artifexnews.net 32 32 Polaris Dawn: why world’s first private spacewalk wasn’t just a vanity project https://artifexnews.net/article68651073-ece/ Tue, 17 Sep 2024 09:26:09 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article68651073-ece/ Read More “Polaris Dawn: why world’s first private spacewalk wasn’t just a vanity project” »

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This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on September 15, 2024 shows the manned Polaris Dawn mission’s “Dragon” capsule aboard the rescue vessel after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Two astronauts have carried out the first-ever commercial spacewalk, using new less-bulky spacesuits designed by SpaceX.

Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman (who also funded the mission) and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis together spent almost half an hour outside their spacecraft at an altitude of some 700 km, further from Earth than any human since the Apollo Moon landings.

The brief jaunt into the void is a significant milestone for commercial spaceflight, with the spacecraft, suits and the overall mission all being SpaceX productions.

What’s so interesting about the mission?

The Polaris Dawn mission stands out for several reasons. In terms of science and technology, the highlight is the test of new spacesuits for extravehicular activity (or EVA). A spacesuit that allows an astronaut to leave their vessel is a small spacecraft in its own right, and interest in new, modern suits is growing as NASA’s planned Artemis missions to the Moon approach.

The mission is travelling around Earth in a highly elliptical orbit, which means its altitude ranges from 192 km way out to 1,400 km. The orbit is taking astronauts through regions of high radiation, including the South Atlantic Anomaly, and may allow for testing of the new suits under these extreme conditions.

Polaris Dawn also carries 36 different experiments, many studying the effects of spaceflight on the human body.

This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on September 15, 2024 shows Anna Menon, mission specialist and medical officer, stepping out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission’s “Dragon” capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program.

This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on September 15, 2024 shows Anna Menon, mission specialist and medical officer, stepping out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission’s “Dragon” capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions Isaacman plans with SpaceX, which he says will “serve the bigger purpose of opening up space for everyone and making humankind a multiplanetary species”. The second may aim to boost the Hubble Space Telescope’s orbit and prolong its life, while the third may use SpaceX’s reusable Starship rocket (which is currently in the early stages of testing).

Commercial spaceflight on the way up

Perhaps the most significant thing about Polaris Dawn is what it suggests about the future of spaceflight. This is a commercial mission, operated by SpaceX using its own technology without the involvement of government space agencies.

It is not the “space tourism” we have seen from the likes of Blue Origin, sending rich people on sub-orbital joyrides. While the SpaceX mission is funded via private wealth, it is making a genuine contribution to scientific knowledge – and to the future of spaceflight.

One crucial feature of government space programs has been the rigorous training and selection process for astronauts, ensuring those who make it to space know exactly what they are doing. SpaceX is continuing this high level of professionalism, with four extremely well-qualified and prepared astronauts participating in Polaris Dawn.

The Polaris Dawn spacewalk comes as two NASA astronauts are stranded on the International Space Station due to problems with the Starliner space vehicle, which Boeing built for the US space agency at great expense. It is now expected the pair will be rescued next February by a SpaceX vehicle (developed for far less money than Boeing’s).

For all humankind?

The rise of non-government space flight has its critics, who say commercial imperatives and private control have no place in what should be a purely scientific endeavour. SpaceX (with its controversial owner Elon Musk) has also faced criticisms over environmental concerns and treatment of staff.

However, the huge improvements in space technology and reductions in cost that have occurred in recent years are largely due to commercial involvement. When humanity returns to the Moon – and if we one day travel to Mars and beyond – private companies will play an essential role.

And while Polaris Dawn is clearly a passion project for Isaacman, it’s not a vanity project. It will have real benefits in terms of science and technology – and that’s good news for all future human endeavours, in space and here on Earth.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.



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Musk’s SpaceX testing breakthrough tech in risky spacewalk https://artifexnews.net/article68561281-ece/ Sat, 24 Aug 2024 01:33:51 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article68561281-ece/ Read More “Musk’s SpaceX testing breakthrough tech in risky spacewalk” »

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(L-R) Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman, and Sarah Gillis, crew members of Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission, attend a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in Florida, August 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Joe Skipper/Reuters

SpaceX’s attempt at the first ever private spacewalk next week will be a test of trailblazing equipment, including slim spacesuits and a cabin with no airlock, in one of the riskiest missions yet for Elon Musk’s space company.

A billionaire entrepreneur, a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees are poised to launch on Tuesday aboard a modified Crew Dragon craft, before embarking on a 20-minute spacewalk 700 km into space two days later.

Until now, walking into the empty expanse of space has only been attempted by government astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), 400 km above Earth.

SpaceX’s five-day mission – dubbed Polaris Dawn – will swing in an oval-shaped orbit, passing as close to Earth as 190 km and as far as 1,400 km, the farthest any humans will have ventured since the end of the United States’ Apollo moon program in 1972.

Crew members, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, will don SpaceX’s new, slimline spacesuits in a Crew Dragon vehicle that was modified so it can open its hatch door in the vacuum of space – an unusual process that removes the need for an airlock.

“They’re pushing the envelope in multiple ways,” retired NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said in an interview. “They’re also going to a much higher altitude, with a more severe radiation environment than we’ve been to since Apollo.”

The mission has been bankrolled by Isaacman, the founder of electronic payment company Shift4. He has declined to say how much he has spent, but it is estimated to be over $100 million.

Joining him will be mission pilot Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both senior engineers at the company.

For SpaceX, which has pioneered cheap, reusable rockets and expensive private spaceflight, the mission is an opportunity to advance technologies that could be used on the moon and Mars.

Far outside the protective bubble of Earth’s atmosphere, the electronics and shielding on Crew Dragon and spacesuits will be tested as they pass through parts of the Van Allen belt, an area where charged particles streaming mainly from the sun can disrupt satellites’ electronics and affect human health.

“That’s an additional risk that you don’t face when you just stay in low-Earth orbit and go up to the ISS,” Reisman said.

Not a normal spacewalk

The Polaris spacewalk will take place on the mission’s third day, but preparation will begin about 45 hours in advance.

The gumdrop-shaped Crew Dragon’s entire cabin will be depressurized and exposed to the vacuum of space. While only two of the astronauts will float outside, tethered by an oxygen line, the whole crew will depend on their spacesuits for life support.

Days before the spacewalk, the crew will begin a “pre-breathe” process to fill the cabin with pure oxygen and remove any nitrogen from the air.

Nitrogen, if present in astronauts’ bloodstreams in space, could form bubbles, block blood flow and lead to decompression sickness, known as “the bends,” as with scuba divers who return too quickly to the water’s surface.

The crew will use an ultrasound device to monitor any bubble formation, one of many tools to be used in the mission to inform dozens of scientific experiments, providing researchers a rare peek into how astronauts might fare on the moon’s surface or elsewhere in deep space.

“It gives us a very unique opportunity to test these vehicles in such a very unique environment,” said Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chair for aerospace medicine at the University of Central Florida’s internal medicine department.

While astronaut safety on NASA missions is rigorously overseen by the agency, there are no such U.S. standards or laws for spaceflight safety in private missions like Polaris.

SpaceX officials and the Polaris crew said during a Monday news conference they have planned for an array of contingency scenarios if something during the mission goes wrong, such as an oxygen leak or failure to reseal the hatch door, but they did not detail what those were.

Reisman said he knows the Polaris crew and believes they are prepared to handle any unexpected mishaps.

“But there’s not a lot of room for error,” he said.



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