We are just a few hours away from watching the world’s first spacewalk in a commercial mission. The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission are currently preparing for the Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA), as it is called, which will take place 700 km above Earth.
According to SpaceX, the event will begin at 3:28 pm IST. The spacewalk will be conducted by mission commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis. It can also be postponed to the next day if needed. You can watch the historic moment live on SpaceX’s X profile.
Orbital sunset from Dragon pic.twitter.com/maDHdiSxNH
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
Isaacman and Gillis will sequentially step out of the Dragon spacecraft for the spacewalk that will last for about two hours. Interestingly, the capsule doesn’t have an airlock so the other two crew members – pilot Scott Poteet and Anna Menon- will also be exposed to the vacuum of space.
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Polaris Dawn Flight Day 2 Update
The Polaris Dawn crew began Flight Day 2 with an incredible milestone – Dragon reached an apogee of more than 1,400 kilometers, marking the farthest humans have traveled in space since the completion of the Apollo program over 50 years ago.… pic.twitter.com/rDTwmzkTML
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
Dragon had initially climbed to an altitude of 1,400 kilometres – the highest humans have reached since the Apollo 17 mission that launched in December 1972. Besides, Menon and Gillis have become the first two women to travel this far into space.
The crew is now in the second day of the 5-day mission. Their first two days was spent following the pre-breathe protocol to prepare for the spacewalk. They also conducted experiments with Starlink communication system in orbit for the first time ever.
Orbiting Earth on board Dragon, the Polaris Dawn crew talked with families of @FoldsofHonor, an organization providing educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled military service-members and first responders 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1lY7Tz2ssd
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 11, 2024
On their second day, the crew conducted more research focused on monitoring initial changes to eye sight and ocular health, studying how fluid shifts and exposure to microgravity affect blood flow, and assessed how medications are processed by the body while on-orbit.
They also spoke to their families via video transmission and shared updates about the mission.
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(Image: SpaceX/Polaris Program)