The four crew members of a SpaceX mission began their ambitious journey on Tuesday, September 10, which should mark a new stage in the commercial exploration of space with the first private spacewalk in history.
Since taking off from Florida on Tuesday morning, these passengers on board the company’s Dragon capsule have reached an orbit of up to 1,200 kilometres in altitude. A little later they will have to venture to an altitude of 1,400 km.
These distances constitute a record distance for a crew since the Apollo lunar missions, more than half a century ago.
The commander of this five-day mission, called Polaris Dawn, is American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who has been collaborating with SpaceX for several years and is partly financing the trip. The pilot of the mission is Scott Poteet, a former US Air Force veteran and close friend of Jared Isaacman.
“We have no margin of error in our calculations”
Also on board: Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, the first two SpaceX employees to go into space. At the same time, they became the women who have traveled the most from Earth.
At about three times the altitude of the International Space Station, the environment is completely different when it comes to radiation and micrometeorites, Jared Isaacman explained at a press conference last month. The goal is to gather data on the effect on the human body and the recipient.
During the mission, the spacecraft will “pass several times at the orbital altitudes of more than 10,000 satellites and space debris,” SpaceX boss Elon Musk said Tuesday. “We have no margin for error in our calculations.” But the riskiest part will undoubtedly remain the spacewalk, the first ever undertaken by civilians who are not professional astronauts.
The attempt is due to take place on Thursday at 8:23 a.m. (Paris time), in an orbit of approximately 700 kilometres in altitude. It is to be broadcast live and last approximately two hours.
Primary objective: Testing the company’s first white, futuristic-looking vacuum suits. Since the Dragon ship is not equipped with an airlock, the entire crew will be exposed to the vacuum of space once the hatch is opened. Two passengers will remain on board, while two others will take turns venturing outside, for 15 to 20 minutes each.
While attached to the capsule, they will perform movements to test the new suits, which are resistant to extreme temperatures and equipped with a camera.
Source: BFM TV
