Experience the Polaris Dawn mission, the first private spacewalk in history, in video

SpaceX once again confirms its position as the absolute leader in New Space and enters a little more into the annals of space conquest. Today, September 12, 2024, one of its capsules allowed billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis to perform the first spacewalk during a private mission, despite all the risks that it involved.

A historic first

Perched above a Falcon 9, Polaris Dawn was launched Tuesday and its specially designed capsule for the occasion quickly reached 1400 km altitude, the furthest distance reached by human beings since the last Apollo missionmore than half a century ago. The spacewalk took place at an altitude of 700 km (elliptical orbit), well above the International Space Station (ISS).

Shortly after 1pm (French time), Jared Isaacman was the first to launch himself into the cosmic void, followed by Sarah Gillis. The latter took the opportunity to perform a series of movements to test the new suits developed by SpaceXimproved versions of those worn by astronauts who join the ISS aboard a Crew Dragon. They allow better mobility, but also resist higher temperatures, and are equipped with a camera and instruments capable of measuring pressure, temperature and internal humidity. In their sights, the return of humans to the Moon and their conquest of Mars.

Although they each stayed outside the capsule for no more than 10 minutes, the operation still took nearly 2 hours. And although the other two members of the expedition, Scott Poteet and Anne Menon, did not go outside, they still had to put on their spacesuits. Since the capsule did not have an airlock, they too were completely exposed to the vacuum of space.

Two more missions

Following this mission, the Polaris Dawn program will have two more. The next one should look like this one. The third, however, will mark even more space history, since it should mark the first crewed flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket, which should play a major role in humanity's permanent presence on the Moon.