Two crew members emerged from the Dragon spacecraft to test their new SpaceX suitsâ€"and to take in the spectacular view.
Billionaire-funded crew Polaris Dawn became the first private mission to conduct a spacewalk, stepping outside a SpaceX capsule into the vacuum of space for a historic moment that broke new ground for commercial spaceflight.
The Polaris Dawn mission set out for the world's first private spacewalk early Thursday morning, with the crew members donning their extravehicular spacesuits inside the Dragon spacecraft. Although all four astronauts were exposed to the vacuum of space, only two crew members stepped outside of the spacecraft's hatch before the cabin was repressurized to signal the end of the spacewalk, SpaceX wrote on X in a series of updates.
Unlike the International Space Station, the Dragon spacecraft is not equipped with an airlock. Therefore, the entire crew cabin had to be depressurized before its hatch was opened, exposing all four astronauts to the vacuum of space.
At 6:52 a.m. ET, mission commander Jared Isaacman was the first to climb his way outside of the Dragon spacecraft, looking onto the familiar hue of planet Earth. The billionaire space enthusiast carried out a series of mobility tests of SpaceX's brand new spacesuits, designed especially for the occasion, before stepping back into the crew cabin. Isaacman was followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, who conducted her own series of tests while outside of the hatch.
SpaceX live-streamed the event, which made for some spectacular views of the astronauts shrouded by the darkness of space, with a backdrop of Earth outlining their silhouette as they awkwardly moved their arms while being tethered to the spacecraft. “SpaceX, back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,†Isaacman said during the spacewalk.
The Polaris Dawn mission launched on Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's the first of three private missions on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft purchased by tech entrepreneur Isaacman.
The mission set out to accomplish many firsts. On Wednesday, the Dragon spacecraft reached a maximum orbit of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), the highest altitude by the SpaceX crew capsule. At that altitude, the Polaris Dawn crew flew into the Van Allen radiation belts, a region of energetic charged particles that begin at around 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) above Earth. One of the mission’s tasks is to test the effects of the region’s radiation on astronaut health.
Polaris Dawn will also be the first to test SpaceX’s Starlink laser-based communication in space, which uses lasers to relay data between satellites at the speed of light. The company is hoping to develop the technology to aid in communication systems for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The mission is meant to last five days before the Dragon crew capsule splashes down off the coast of Florida. During its time in space, the crew will carry out roughly 30 science experiment and research projects, mainly to help understand the effects of radiation on astronaut health.
Thursday's spacewalk, the first in commercial spaceflight, pushed private astronauts far beyond the usual suborbital trips. Yet for those of us watching from home, space still feels like a distant fantasy.