- "Thursday's Early-Morning Activities by Polaris Dawn Operations Team"
Summit accomplished, next stop: space strolls in recently deployed space attires for the "Polaris Dawn" quartet's private astronauts. SpaceX proclaimed that the team will endeavor to exit the Crew Dragon on Thursday, at 8:23 AM CEST. A backup chance is available on the 13th, on the same time frame, if necessary.
Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will each venture out for roughly 20 minutes, attached to a sort of ladder via foot loops, unlike spacewalks at the International Space Station (ISS). They'll receive breathable air through a tube, not from a tank embedded in their suits like at the ISS.
All need to don attires
Another difference is that the Crew Dragon doesn't possess an airlock for exits, unlike the ISS. This implies that the astronauts remaining in the capsule must also adorn their SpaceX-designed space attires to shield against the vacuum of space and the scarcity of breathable air within the cabin.
The crew is presently undertaking a "pre-breathe" procedure to gradually expel nitrogen from their blood, inhibiting gas bubbles from forming in their tissues and bloodstream due to pressure changes. This "initial commercial spacewalk," as described on the project's website, promises enhanced mobility than previous suits, along with a 3D-printed helmet display, camera, and novel materials for better temperature regulation in the frigid vacuum of space.
Beyond the ISS
Just hours post-launch on Tuesday, this privately-financed space expedition reached its maximum altitude of 1,400 kilometers above Earth, as per SpaceX's X service. This is the farthest humans have been from Earth since the last Apollo missions to the Moon in the early 1970s. The ISS orbits at approximately 400 kilometers.
Billionaire entrepreneur Isaacman is guiding the up to five-day mission in collaboration with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who remains earthbound. Isaacman was accompanied by Kidd Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon within the Crew Dragon, which was launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida via a Falcon-9 rocket.
The Polaris Dawn quartet's private astronauts, including Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, will experience their space strolls outside the Crew Dragon, reaching beyond the capabilities of the International Space Station (ISS). Different from spacewalks on the ISS, they'll be tethered to a ladder and rely on a breathable air tube.
Given that the Crew Dragon lacks an airlock for exits, all remaining astronauts inside the capsule must also wear their SpaceX-designed space attires to shield against space's vacuum and scarce breathable air.
