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SpaceX has announced a series of up to 3 Polaris Dawn missions by private astronauts.
Led by Jared Isaacman and Scott Poteet, this mission will use the maximum capabilities of the Falcon9 to achieve the highest orbit for manned spacecraft yet attained and will be used to conduct research on long term survival in space with 5 day missions. There will be attempts at the first Private Spacewalks. There will also be 2 SpaceX employees along to assist in the various research projes that will be carried out.
https://www.spacex.com/updates/index.html
As a PS, added in edit--there shouldn't be any question about the awarding of Astronaut Wings to these crews, as they aren't going on "Billionaire Joy Rides."
Last edited by Oldfart1939 (2022-02-14 11:24:24)
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If memory serves, one of the Gemini missions in the mid 1960's reached about 800 miles altitude. In low-inclination eastward orbits, if you go much higher than about 900 miles, you start getting in to the inner Van Allen radiation belt.
So, there's a limit posed by radiation exposure, and while the spacecraft hull is a bit of help with that, it is just not near enough for a long stay. Crossing those belts in hours going to and from the moon was an acceptable exposure. Spending weeks or months doing it with electric propulsion spiraling in and out turns out to be a radiation exposure death sentence for a crew. Unless you add 20 g/sq.cm worth of low molecular weight shielding material.
GW
Last edited by GW Johnson (2022-02-15 09:12:17)
GW Johnson
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"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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Here is an update on the Polaris Dawn mission.... there are a ** lot ** of details in this report by CNN.... the concerns raised by GW Johnson are addressed. The electronics has been blasted by radiation on Earth until it failed, to show the upper limits of what it can tolerate. The humans are going to get blasted as well, and they just have to put up with it. The spacecraft will be opened to space, so pre-breathing will start after launch so everyone is ready for opening the hatch. A detail that ** should ** be of interest to RobertDyck is that the plan is to decrease pressure inside the spacecraft and to increase oxygen. The article does not spell out the exact ratio, but I'll bet it comes close to the 3-5-8 rule that RobertDyck has proposed for Large Ship and for Mars habitats.
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CNN
A billionaire is about to lead the first private spacewalk. Here’s what to know
Jackie Wattles, CNN
Mon, August 19, 2024 at 5:00 AM EDT·12 min read
5Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
When billionaire Jared Isaacman self-funded a mission to orbit Earth in 2021, the project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser — and made for an eye-popping entrance into the private space tourism world. The four-person crew of people from various backgrounds with no prior spaceflight experience spent three days orbiting Earth together in a 13-foot-wide SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Upon his return, Isaacman imagined he likely would not go to space again.
“We kind of checked every one of the boxes we set out to achieve,” Isaacman told CNN, saying that Inspiration4 showed how people from various walks of life can train for and execute a mission to orbit. ”(I thought) that maybe I wouldn’t go back, that maybe the bar was set sufficiently high that this was a good time to stop.”
That assessment of his future in spaceflight, however, did not stick.
On Monday, Isaacman and three crewmates — including his close friend and former Air Force pilot, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, as well as two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis — will arrive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the launch of a far grander, more dangerous, and experimental trip to space.
Polaris Dawn crew members — including, from left, Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis — are seen inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. - Polaris Program/John Kraus
Polaris Dawn crew members — including, from left, Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis — are seen inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. - Polaris Program/John Kraus
The mission, called Polaris Dawn, is slated to take off no earlier than 3:30 a.m. ET on August 26.While prior missions to space that were funded by wealthy businesspeople may have conjured images of self-indulgent joy rides, Polaris Dawn is a test mission designed to push boundaries.
Isaacman, Menon, Gillis and Poteet will spend five days aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that will soar to altitudes higher than any human has traveled since NASA’s Apollo program ended in the 1970s. Their orbital path will extend high enough to plunge the vehicle and crew into a radiation belt, adding another element of peril to the already treacherous experience of spaceflight.
This crew of private citizens will also open the hatch of their spacecraft and expose themselves to the vacuum of space, marking the first time such a feat has been attempted by non-government astronauts. During this endeavor, the astronauts will be protected solely by brand-new Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits, which SpaceX designed and developed in just two and a half years.
Jared Isaacman is pictured in the cockpit of a jet. - Polaris Program/John Kraus
Jared Isaacman is pictured in the cockpit of a jet. - Polaris Program/John Kraus
With Polaris Dawn, Isaacman — the founder of payment services company Shift4, who is also a jet pilot with lifelong dreams of space travel — is making clear he is not just interested in duplicating what professional astronauts have experienced. He is seeking to advance space technology, helping to fund the development of new hardware as well as personally exposing himself to the risks of testing out that technology where it matters most: in the unforgiving void of outer space.“What Jared is doing — he’s not just going for a joyride,” said Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut who serves as a SpaceX consultant and helped lead the development of Crew Dragon. “Jared (wants) do things that SpaceX wasn’t necessarily doing on its own, to increase their capabilities, to get them to move the ball further downfield.”
An unprecedented mission
First announced in 2022, Polaris Dawn is the first of three testing and development missions under the Polaris Program that Isaacman said he will jointly execute and fund alongside SpaceX. He declined to say how much this mission cost.The end goal of the Polaris Program is to take the first steps toward validating technology that SpaceX will one day need if it carries humans deeper into the cosmos — including spacesuits, EVA and life-support technologies.
After launch, the Polaris Dawn crew will travel into an oval-shaped orbit that extends as high as 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) from Earth. That’s well into the inner band of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, which begin at around 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in altitude. The belts are areas where concentrations of high-energy particles that come from the sun and interact with Earth’s atmosphere are trapped, creating two dangerous bands of radiation, according to NASA.
1) The International Space Station orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. 2) The Hubble Space Telescope, which NASA astronauts have conducted spacewalks to repair, orbits about 320 miles (515 kilometers) high. 3) The innermost of two bands that make up the Van Allen radiation belts begins at about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers). 4) The Polaris Dawn mission will reach a maximum altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) before lowering its apogee for the spacewalk. - CNN/Getty Images/Space X/Adobe Stock
1) The International Space Station orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. 2) The Hubble Space Telescope, which NASA astronauts have conducted spacewalks to repair, orbits about 320 miles (515 kilometers) high. 3) The innermost of two bands that make up the Van Allen radiation belts begins at about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers). 4) The Polaris Dawn mission will reach a maximum altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) before lowering its apogee for the spacewalk. - CNN/Getty Images/Space X/Adobe StockMore
Almost immediately after reaching space, the Polaris Dawn crew will begin a “pre-breathe” process to prepare for the spacewalk. It’s akin to what scuba divers do to avoid decompression sickness, otherwise known as “the bends.” The crewmates must purge nitrogen from their blood so that when the Dragon capsule is depressurized and exposed to the vacuum of space, the gas doesn’t form bubbles in their bloodstream — a potentially lethal condition.“We don’t have an airlock on this mission,” Gillis told CNN, referring to the areas on board the International Space Station (ISS) that serve as special decompression chambers for astronauts heading out for a spacewalk. Polaris Dawn will instead take “a really novel and different approach” to the pre-breathing process that involves “slowly decreasing cabin pressure and raising oxygen concentration.”
Unlike any pre-breathe attempted on the International Space Station, the process will take roughly 45 hours — nearly two days, said Gillis, who works as a lead space operations engineer at SpaceX and trained the Inspiration4 crew for their mission.
Finally, to kick off their third day in space, the Polaris Dawn crew will open the Crew Dragon’s hatch as they’re about 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth. All four of the crew members and the entirety of the spacecraft’s interior will be exposed to the expansive void. Only Isaacman and Gillis will actually exit the spacecraft, however, tethered by a couple of umbilicals.
From beginning to end, the Polaris Dawn mission exposes the crew to more risk than other orbital space tourism missions have, including SpaceX missions that have carried paying customers to the International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.
Toxins and radiation
Over the two and a half years SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew have prepared for this mission, numerous technical challenges had to be addressed.Even the EVA suits that SpaceX developed for this mission are high-stakes pieces of technology. For context, NASA has already tried for years to lock down a viable replacement for the aging puffy, white spacesuits used aboard the International Space Station.
Top and bottom left: The four Polaris Dawn crew members are seen inside their spacesuits, which have copper-tinted visors and an array of key updates from SpaceX's typical flight suits. Right: Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman is shown in his SpaceX EVA and flight suit. - CNN/Polaris Program
Top and bottom left: The four Polaris Dawn crew members are seen inside their spacesuits, which have copper-tinted visors and an array of key updates from SpaceX's typical flight suits. Right: Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman is shown in his SpaceX EVA and flight suit. - CNN/Polaris Program
However, Reisman notes, the SpaceX suits do not include a Primary Life Support System, or PLSS, which is essentially a backpack that allows ISS astronauts to float more freely through space to carry out complex tasks, such as repairing and replacing hardware outside the space station. Instead, the Polaris Dawn crew will receive their life support from long hoses attached to their spacecraft.Then there’s the matter of the Crew Dragon vehicle itself. To make sure the spacecraft’s avionics — or electronics used for navigation and communication — could survive the heavy radiation environment encountered during the Polaris Dawn mission, engineers “literally strapped a lot of the avionics to a gurney and brought it to an oncology lab,” Isaacman said.
The SpaceX team hammered the avionics components with radiation until they broke, Isaacman said, to precisely determine when and how the technology might fail.
Once the Crew Dragon spacecraft is exposed to the vacuum of space, components inside the spacecraft could then vent off toxins — a natural trait of certain materials used to make various components — as the cabin is repressurized after the spacewalk, according to Menon.
To avoid that, the Crew Dragon and “a lot of the pieces of hardware that are flying in the vehicle went through basically a bake-out before we will ever go into space. What that does is it off-gasses a lot of those toxins,” said Menon, a lead space operations engineer at SpaceX who will also serve as the crew’s medical officer.
The “bake-out” involved putting the vehicle into a vacuum chamber at high temperatures, allowing the hardware to release the toxins before flight.
SpaceX also implemented automatic rebooting software, according to Menon, which can — without human intervention — troubleshoot computers that might malfunction due to radiation.
‘Significant risks’
Putting such a novel mission together in less than three years is incredibly fast by aerospace standards.“Going faster is not necessarily more risky,” Reisman said, referring to rapid speed of development and extensive ground testing that SpaceX has carried out. “Taking large risks in testing when the consequences of failure are low results in reduced risk later when the consequences of failure are high.”
But “you should be nervous about (this mission),” he added. “Anytime you try something for the first time there are significant risks. I’ll feel much better when they are back inside with the hatch closed and latched” after the spacewalk.
SpaceX teams tried to mitigate risks and prepare for every potential challenge through a barrage of tests, some as simple as putting a handrail into a freezing chamber — set to negative 90 degrees Celsius — to see how cold to the touch a ladder might be when exposed to space, Isaacman said.
They even took the spacesuits to a testing site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. There, the suits were struck by small pieces of debris traveling at orbital velocities to see how they could withstand micrometeorites and avoid punctures that would endanger the crew, according to Isaacman. (Objects in orbit around Earth travel at more than 17,000 miles per hour.)
Adding to the pressure to perform a perfect spacewalk is the fact that time will be extremely limited because the crew will have to lean heavily on oxygen supplies during the pre-breathe.
An artist's depiction of Polaris Dawn shows a crew member floating outside the Crew Dragon capsule while attached by a life support umbilical. - Visualization; Polaris/X
An artist's depiction of Polaris Dawn shows a crew member floating outside the Crew Dragon capsule while attached by a life support umbilical. - Visualization; Polaris/X
“We’ve got five, six days — maybe you can stretch it — of life support on the vehicle,” Isaacman said. “So you have to be really sure about where you have fault tolerance and redundancy in your systems. You’ve got to be really sure about the weather (for the splashdown return to Earth).”Speaking to the challenges the crew will face, Isaacman added, “Sure, there is more risk in a development program than going to and from the International Space Station — but not a lot more risk … And some (risks) are just frankly unavoidable.”
Pushing the envelope
The Polaris Dawn crewmates told CNN they do not have any reservations about going on such an experimental mission. Gillis and Menon both said their experience through years of work at SpaceX — specifically on the Crew Dragon program — gives them close insight into how the company solves problems, which adds a layer of comfort.And Poteet, who previously served 20 years in the Air Force and worked for Isaacman at fighter aircraft company Draken International, said that the Polaris Dawn mission shows what the SpaceX team can “accomplish in a very short few years (and) is a true testament to its professionalism.”
“I have absolutely zero reservations,” Poteet added. “I have full faith and confidence that they’ve crossed every ‘T’ and dotted every ‘I’ in preparation for our mission.”
Isaacman said his inspiration to pursue bold feats in space partly stems from SpaceX’s founding mission: To make humans a multiplanetary species, as CEO Elon Musk puts it, paving the way for a future in which people live and work on Mars or other foreign planets.
The summer before Inspiration4 took off, Isaacman visited SpaceX’s facilities in South Texas. That’s the site of testing and launch operations for the company’s Starship rocket — the largest launch vehicle ever created, which Musk bills as the vehicle that will land humans on Mars for the first time.
That visit was “like a religious experience,” Isaacman said. “We were surrounded by the people that were going to help humankind get to Mars and really explore our solar system. I don’t know — it made me a real believer.”
SpaceX is also undeniably a magnet for controversy, particularly surrounding Musk, who lately has landed in the news more for his political leanings and statements than for his space ambitions.
Isaacman credits Musk for having the vision that drives SpaceX on a day-to-day basis. But, he added, “SpaceX is a really, really big organization, and unfortunately, a lot of times, I feel like it all gets kind of boiled down to one person.”
“When I’m at SpaceX — and I spend a lot of time there — I don’t see vice presidents, I don’t see directors. I interact with a lot of (young employees),” Isaacman said. “I think SpaceX is on, for our time, the most incredible adventure imaginable … the possibility of unlocking life’s mysteries. Where do we really come from? What is our purpose? We might be really shocked about those answers, and, along the way, discover: Who knows what kind of technologies that could just change humanity’s existence — our trajectory in this world.”
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(th)
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The spacecraft hull is some protection from Van Allen Belt radiation, but not generally enough. They will get exposed a bit, as did the Gemini crew that flew to a similar apogee altitude long ago. Not too seriously, but certainly measurable with a dosimeter.
They will be inside the spacecraft penetrating the radiation belt at the apogee of an elliptical orbit. The article says the apogee is 870 miles (1400 km), which is definitely getting into the belt, but that boundary is neither sharp nor precise.
The article also says they will lower the apogee (but no number given) for the spacewalk. I suspect they will lower it a little bit below about 600 miles (1000 km), where the belts are nominally said to begin. The suits would be very little protection against radiation. There's no point exposing the spacewalkers needlessly.
Bear in mind that the bottom of the Van Allen radiation belt is not at a fixed altitude. There is a persistent low spot over the South Atlantic, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, through which the ISS actually flies, every several orbits. That is the largest factor in the exposure that ISS astronauts receive.
GW
GW Johnson
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"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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I see that the Polaris Dawn mission has been delayed twice now: once for a helium leak and once again for expected bad weather in the landing zones.
It is really hard to tell from the news reports, but as best I can make out, the helium leak was in ground equipment, not the Dragon. That's quite distinct from the Starliner helium leaks, which were in the Starliner spacecraft itself.
Both craft use helium to pressurize the thruster propellants and drive them into the thruster combustion chambers. These are hypergolic bipropellant thrusters that are pressure-fed. I know Dragon uses MMH and NTO. I think Starliner uses the same. Or possibly a different hydrazine and NTO.
Aerozine-50 was once commonly used with NTO by "old space" companies. It is a 50-50 blend of UDMH and simple hydrazine. But the trend in recent years has been toward MMH.
GW
GW Johnson
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The flight has been in space for a couple of days, and just started the first space walk:
A record 19 astronauts are now in orbit, after Russia's Soyuz MS-26 mission ferried two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut to the International Space Station on Wednesday, taking its headcount to 12.
Three Chinese astronauts are aboard the Tiangong space station.
The first U.S. spacewalk in 1965, aboard a Gemini capsule, used a similar procedure to the one planned for Polaris Dawn: the capsule was depressurized, the hatch opened, and a spacesuited astronaut ventured outside on a tether.
Since 2001, Crew Dragon, the only U.S. vehicle capable of reliably putting humans in orbit and returning them to Earth, has flown more than a dozen astronaut missions, mainly for NASA.
The agency seeded development of the capsule under a program meant to establish commercial, privately-built U.S. vehicles capable of ferrying astronauts with the ISS.
Also developed under that program was Boeing's Starliner capsule, but it is farther behind.
Starliner launched its first astronauts to the ISS in June in a troubled test mission that ended this month with the capsule returning empty, leaving its crew on the space station for a Crew Dragon capsule to fetch next year.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette and Gerry Doyle; Editing by Jamie Freed and Clarence Fernandez)
Full story: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … ticle_link
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The space walk is over and the cabin is closed...
Updated Sept. 12, 2024, 8:50 AM EDT
By Denise Chow
Coverage on this live blog has ended. Follow our full coverage here.Four private citizens orbiting Earth in a SpaceX capsule made history Thursday by completing the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched into space Tuesday to begin a five-day flight.
Their spacewalk began at 6:12 a.m. ET, having been delayed a few hours, and ended at 7:58 a.m. ET.
Completion of the spacewalk was a major milestone for the Polaris Dawn flight. Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies had conducted spacewalks to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and complete science experiments.
WATCH: Highlights from SpaceX's first all-civilian spacewalk
02:15
During Thursday’s outing, Isaacman and Gillis exited the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a tether, each spending around 10 minutes out in the vacuum of space. Although they were the only ones to venture outside the spacecraft, all four crew members wore and tested newly designed spacesuits during the event. That’s because the Crew Dragon does not have a pressurized airlock, so the entire capsule was depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions.Overall, the Polaris Dawn mission is designed to test procedures and technologies that could be used in future long-duration space missions. Already in their journey, the crew members flew to the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface.
The flight was funded by Isaacman for an undisclosed sum.
7h ago / 8:50 AM EDT
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First all-civilian spacewalk is officially overDenise Chow
SpaceX recorded the end time of the spacewalk at 7:58 a.m. ET.
Today's outing marks the first time that four people were exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time. While Isaacman and Gillis were the only ones to exit the capsule, the entire Dragon spacecraft was exposed to vacuum conditions.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson relayed good wishes to SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew in a statement on X. "Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!" Nelson wrote. "Today's success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA's long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy."
7h ago / 8:28 AM EDT
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What's next for Polaris Dawn?Denise Chow
Today’s all-civilian spacewalk was a major focus of the Polaris Dawn mission, but the flight is designed to carry out various science experiments and public outreach, as well.
The five-day mission will also help researchers assess the health of astronauts and their spacecraft in different space radiation environments, which could help SpaceX plan future missions to the moon and Mars.
At the end of the expedition, the Crew Dragon capsule will splash down off the coast of Florida, but SpaceX has not yet released details about the upcoming landing.
8h ago / 8:02 AM EDT
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Capsule's hatch is closedDenise Chow
The Polaris Dawn crew confirmed that the spacecraft’s hatch is now closed. Mission controllers reported that the seals appear to be in good working order.
Pressure inside the cabin is now increasing and the crew will perform another round of cabin leak checks next. The re-pressurization process is expected to take up to 50 minutes, according to SpaceX.
8h ago / 8:01 AM EDT
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Capsule re-pressurization completeDenise Chow
The Dragon capsule has been re-pressurized and leak checks were conducted to ensure that the cabin’s pressure matches the pressure inside the crew members’ spacesuits.
This will allow Isaacman, Gillis, Menon and Poteet to take off their suits and resume normal operations.
8h ago / 7:42 AM EDT
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Polaris Dawn's other milestones so farDenise Chow
During the Crew Dragon capsule’s first orbit around Earth, the spacecraft reached an altitude of 755 miles, marking the farthest Dragon mission flown to date, according to SpaceX.
Hours later, the capsule flew even higher, reaching an altitude of 870 miles above Earth’s surface. The maneuver marked the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached in 52 years, since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972.
An orbital altitude of 870 miles is more than three times higher than the International Space Station.
9h ago / 7:17 AM EDT
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Gillis returns insideDenise Chow
Gillis is heading back inside the Dragon capsule after spending roughly 7 minutes in the vacuum of space.
On her way in, she reported seeing bulges on the hatch seals again. Next, the crew members will begin closing the hatch and wrapping up the spacewalk.
9h ago / 7:10 AM EDT
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Gillis reports bulging seals on the hatch as she exits capsuleDenise Chow
Gillis, a senior engineer at SpaceX, is now exiting the Dragon capsule. Cheers from her colleagues in Hawthorne, California, could be heard on the webcast as she traveled through the hatch.
Prior to stepping out into space, Gillis reported seeing seals around the hatch that appear to be bulging. Kate Tice, a SpaceX engineer and one of the hosts of the livestream, said the deformities were not unexpected and Gillis was advised to pop them back into place.
Good seals around the hatch will be crucial at the end of the spacewalk, when the door is closed once again and the cabin is re-pressurized.
9h ago / 7:03 AM EDT
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Isaacman back insideDenise Chow
Isaacman has climbed back into the Dragon capsule and Gillis will be next to step outside and perform the same spacesuit mobility tests.
Isaacman spent roughly 10 minutes out in the vacuum of space and Gillis will have more or less the same allotment of time before she returns inside.
9h ago / 7:00 AM EDT
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History madeDenise Chow
It's a historic moment as Isaacman performs a series of spacesuit maneuvers outside the Dragon capsule. Before today, only astronauts from government space agencies had ventured out into the vacuum of space on spacewalks.
WATCH: SpaceX astronaut successfully attempts first civilian spacewalk
00:31
While attached to a tether, Isaacman is testing how well the spacesuit performs with different movements, including climbing up and down and reaching with each arm.He's also devoting some time to taking in the views. "It's gorgeous," he radioed back to mission controllers on the ground.
9h ago / 6:54 AM EDT
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Isaacman ventures out into spaceDenise Chow
Space X Polaris capsule
SpaceX / Polaris
Cheers erupted from SpaceX’s mission control in Hawthorne, California, as Isaacman’s helmet camera captured each step of his journey out into the vacuum of space.Isaacman said that back on Earth there is a lot of work to do, but that the view of the planet from space is “perfect.”
9h ago / 6:52 AM EDT
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Hatch is openDenise Chow
The hatch is now fully open, marking an important milestone in this spacewalk.
Isaacman reported to mission controllers that the seals around the hatch "look good," which will be important for the end of the spacewalk, when the hatch is closed again.
The webcast features live views from Isaacman's helmet camera as he prepares to exit the spacecraft.
9h ago / 6:45 AM EDT
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Dragon capsule's hatch is openingDenise Chow
The crew members were given a "go" to open the capsule's hatch. Isaacman is now maneuvering a crank to open and unlatch the door.
9h ago / 6:43 AM EDT
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Next-generation spacesuitsDenise Chow
Polaris Space X Capsule Space Walk
Polaris / Space X
SpaceX’s newly designed spacesuits are significantly less bulky compared to the iconic white suits that NASA astronauts wear on spacewalks.SpaceX engineers described the new design as a "suit of armor made of fabric," adding that new joints and features were added to help people move around easier inside — and outside — the Dragon spacecraft. The helmets also feature heads-up displays, which project real-time data on telemetry, temperature and humidity on a transparent display right on the visor.
Another difference is that SpaceX uses the same suits for spacewalks, launch and re-entry, unlike NASA astronauts that have separate spacesuits to conduct work in the vacuum of space.
9h ago / 6:27 AM EDT
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The spacewalk's start explainedDenise Chow
The Polaris Dawn spacewalk has officially begun, but everyone is still inside the Dragon capsule.
That’s because SpaceX is clocking the start of the spacewalk to when pure oxygen starts flowing into the spacesuits — not when Isaacman first steps into space.
Oxygen flowing into the suits helps purge excess nitrogen from the crew members’ bodies, which lowers the risk of decompression sickness during the spacewalk.
It will take about 20 minutes to complete this purging process.
10h ago / 6:15 AM EDT
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Spacewalk beginsDenise Chow
At 6:12 a.m. ET, oxygen began flowing into the crew members’ spacesuits, officially kicking off the start of the spacewalk.
10h ago / 6:12 AM EDT
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Spacewalk is a 'go'Denise Chow
The Polaris Dawn astronauts exchanged fist bumps and the spacewalk was given a "go" to proceed by mission controllers on the ground.
All four crew members also gave their "go" to continue.
Next, oxygen will flow into the spacesuits and then the Dragon capsule's hatch will be opened.
10h ago / 6:10 AM EDT
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Final checks underwayDenise Chow
The Polaris Dawn crew members are completing last-minute checks of their spacesuits and are awaiting the final go-no go poll on whether to proceed.
Things are running slightly behind schedule, but live views inside the capsule show that preparations are ongoing.
10h ago / 5:55 AM EDT
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What is the Polaris Dawn mission?Denise Chow
The Polaris Dawn flight is designed to test new spacesuits and technologies that could pave the way for future missions to the moon and eventually Mars.
The four-person crew is made up of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman, who funded and took part in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021, is bankrolling the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX.
In addition to the spacewalk, the astronauts will conduct various science experiments during the mission. The Dragon capsule’s orbit will be distant enough for the spacecraft to pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone of high-energy radiation particles trapped by Earth’s magnetosphere.
That will allow scientists to study the effects of space radiation on the crew and the vehicle. The findings could help SpaceX plan missions to the moon and Mars, which would require astronauts to fly through the inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts.
Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned spaceflights that Isaacman is funding. He has not disclosed the cost of the program or the possible objectives and timing of the other missions.
10h ago / 5:50 AM EDT
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A record number of people in orbitDenise Chow
While the Polaris Dawn crew attempts to make history this morning, another historic milestone was set yesterday: There are currently 19 people in orbit around Earth at the same time, more than ever before.
The record was broken yesterday, when a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched three new crew members to the International Space Station. The 19 people populating Earth's orbit come from five different space expeditions, representing three countries.
Here's who is in orbit at the moment:
Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis from the Polaris Dawn mission.
Expedition 71 members at the International Space Station: NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Oleg Kononenko and Alexander Grebenkin.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who just arrived at the International Space Station to begin a new rotation at the orbiting lab.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were members of the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule and remain at the ISS.
Chinese taikonauts Li Guangsu, Li Cong and Ye Guangfu, who are currently living and working aboard China's Tiangong space station.
10h ago / 5:44 AM EDT
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Next stepsDenise Chow
A final go-no go poll will be conducted by the crew members before the spacewalk actually begins.
If they opt to proceed, the Dragon capsule will use its thrusters to reposition itself so that the spacecraft’s bottom trunk is facing the sun. SpaceX said this will help stabilize temperatures and communications during the spacewalk.
Once the capsule’s hatch is open, Isaacman will be first out the door. In radio communications on the webcast, he will be referred to by his call sign of “EV 1.” Isaacman will conduct mobility tests in his spacesuit, essentially making sure it can practically and comfortably perform various actions that could be essential on long-duration missions.
After roughly 15 minutes, Isaacman will climb back in to the capsule. Gillis, whose call sign is “EV 2,” will then step out into the vacuum of space and go through the same set of mobility tests, according to SpaceX.
Once both astronauts are back inside, Dragon’s hatch will be closed and the cabin will be re-pressurized. In total, the expedition is expected to last about two hours.
10h ago / 5:32 AM EDT
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Early pictures show an orbital sunset from Polaris capsuleMax Butterworth
An orbital sunset seen from the SpaceX Dragon capsule ahead of the first private spacewalk performed by the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission this morning.
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched early Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reaching a peak altitude of 870 miles.
SpaceX / Polaris via AFP-Getty Images
11h ago / 5:21 AM EDT
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Crew members are donning their spacesuitsDenise Chow
The four astronauts are now putting on their spacesuits ahead of the spacewalk. A series of leak checks will be performed before the pressure is lowered down to vacuum conditions and the capsule’s hatch is opened.
11h ago / 5:15 AM EDT
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A delayed startDenise Chow
SpaceX said early this morning that the spacewalk would begin at 5:58 a.m. ET, more than three hours later than was originally announced.
The company did not provide details about what caused the delay.
11h ago / 5:02 AM EDT
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How the astronauts are getting readyDenise Chow
Final measures to prepare the capsule and the astronauts for the spacewalk began shortly after the crew launched into orbit on Tuesday.
Soon after liftoff from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, the internal pressure of the Crew Dragon spacecraft was slowly lowered while oxygen levels increased incrementally. This standard process, which is also how astronauts on the International Space Station prepare to venture outside of the orbiting lab, helps purge nitrogen from the bloodstream, which lowers the risk of decompression sickness (also known as the “the bends”) during spacewalks.
Decompression sickness is caused by a rapid decrease in a person’s surrounding pressure and can be fatal in severe circumstances. It can also affect scuba or deep-sea divers if they rise to the water’s surface too quickly, without allowing time for nitrogen to be flushed from the body.
11h ago / 5:02 AM EDT
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What to expectDenise Chow
The spacewalk will take place while the Crew Dragon capsule is orbiting at an altitude of roughly 450 miles above Earth.
At roughly 5:58 a.m. ET, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will exit the spacecraft into the vacuum of space while attached to an oxygen line. The outing is expected to last around 20 minutes.
Unlike with spacewalks conducted at the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon capsule does not have a pressurized airlock, which means the entire spacecraft will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions. To protect the crew while all of this is happening, all four astronauts will wear and test spacesuits newly designed by SpaceX.
While outside the capsule, Isaacman and Gillis will “perform a series of mobility tests” in their spacesuits before re-entering Dragon, according to SpaceX.
11h ago / 5:02 AM EDT
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Time for a spacewalkDenise Chow
The Polaris Dawn crew is preparing to embark on the first spacewalk ever conducted entirely by civilians.
Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies have ventured into the vacuum of space to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and conduct scientific experiments.
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Denise Chow
Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.by Taboola
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Nice note from Bill Nelson!
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Polaris Dawn spacewalk: Is the US breaking a 50-year-old space law? violates Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty
commandeered spacewalks. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has new suits and big goals, and it wants to test them as fast as possible. It is now the only private company that delivers humans to live and work in space, and NASA, the space agency of the United States, relies on it.
Polaris Dawn is not a NASA mission, and it is not regulated by the US government. So when its astronauts exit their capsule and ‘walk’ in space, it will mark a massive first for the private industry that is starting to dominate realms beyond Earth.
And this raises a question: Is the US breaking a promise it made 50 years ago about how to operate in space?
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For SpaceNut re #8
Thanks for the link to the space law story.... As often happens, the headline writer went for the text that would scare up the most readers. I had to read to the end to find that it was all hype for not much. The US says it keeps a light touch on it's commercial operators, and that it is well within the flexible language of the treaty. The fact that the European Union would keep a tighter rein is a problem for their companies. It has little to do with the US, Russia or China, or India for that matter.
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The crew of Polaris Dawn returned safely to Earth. The landing site was some distance from Key West, Florida, due to weather issues.
This quote is from a longer article by Marcia Dunn:
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft hit a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers) following Tuesday’s liftoff.
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I've seen several comments online (YouTube), that NASA is now regretting their decision to NOT allow Jared Isaacman and a crew to repair the Hubble Space Telescope AT HIS EXPENSE!!
I'm certain that "Rook" Isaacman and Scott "Kidd" Poteet would be capable of doing the increase in orbit to extend the life of Hubble by another 10 years, and do repairs with a couple of NASA engineers riding along to service/replace the ailing gyros. This sounds like an opportunity to save some taxpayer money and extend the service life of a National Treasure.
Kudos to Isaacman, Poteet, Gillis, and Menon for their stellar efforts in service to the spacefaring community and the USA.
Last edited by Oldfart1939 (2024-09-19 10:51:02)
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I second Oldfart1939's motion.
See how bad "not invented here" attitude is? It's worse at government agencies than in the contractors, and it's bad enough in the contractors.
Innovation comes from the smaller outfits, who are not so consumed with bureaucracy and "not invented here".
GW
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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Here's a link to a debrief of the 4 Polaris Dawn astronauts with an actual live commentator. Some good questions and even better and very detailed answers.
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I think they did a good job, and the right job, too.
GW
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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I truly hope the US Space Force awards all 4 of these Polaris Dawn Astronauts the Astronaut Wings. To not do so would be very unprofessional.
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