The term “Spacewalk“could hardly be more misleading. Because what sounds like a leisurely excursion requires hard training, strong nerves, a lot of strength and maximum concentration.
The crew of the private mission Polaris Dawn about the billionaire Jared Isaacman now wants to carry out a spacewalk by hobby astronauts for the first time. The Start is planned for the coming days, when exactly was initially unclear because it depends heavily on the weather.
On the 3rd day of the flight there should be approximately 2 people 700 km Höhe get out and field test the new EVA spacesuits that SpaceX has developed (EVA stands for “extravehicular activity”, the official name for an outdoor operation). Since there is no airlock in the spaceship, all 4 crew members have to wear the suit at all times as they are not protected in the spaceship.
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“I felt relief at first”
Die Italian ESA-Astronautin Samantha Cristoforetti rose 2022 from the ISS, among other things European Robotic Arm to work. She was the first European woman to perform a spacewalk. futurezone asked her what dangers lurk during a space walk and how to train for it.
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“I went first Relief felt,” she describes the feeling immediately after getting out. Her training in Russia was shortened due to the war in Ukraine. The ISS models for their training were also equipped with scaffolding that does not exist in reality. “I was really worried about getting out of the hatch, but it worked perfectly.”
Training in the swimming pool
This shows one of the major difficulties in preparing for a space walk. On earth you can do that weightlessness not simulate exactly. That’s why astronauts from all space agencies train at depths of at least 10 meters Swimming pools. “In diving there is that static buoyancy“You float in the water and are neither pulled up nor down,” explains Cristoforetti.
However, this is not so easy to maintain underwater in a spacesuit. For this purpose, the astronauts are accompanied by divers. “They’re trying to do that small weights to compensate for the things they quickly put on their suit or take off.”
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But gravity can never be perfectly balanced. This is reflected in the movements, as the suit constantly aligns itself in the pool, which is not the case in space. “But it’s also more difficult because you’re against him Water resistance moved. “You don’t have that in space,” says the astronaut.
This is how the Polaris Dawn crew trained
The 4 private Polaris Dawn astronauts did not train in a pool. However, they left Dive, Mountaineering, skydiving, flying jets and led Parabolic flights through. An aircraft flies in a parabolic shape, which simulates weightlessness in the interior for 20 to 30 seconds. With the help of cranes and Gird The crew also got through Spaceship models raised to give her a feeling of weightlessness.
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However, their mission is also difficult to compare with that of the ISS astronauts. Although it hasn’t been communicated exactly what the private space walk will look like, animations from SpaceX show a person in a spacesuit walking in the opened hatch stands and turns left and right Handläufen festhält. Whether they actually leave this position and how they are secured has not yet been explained.
ISS astronauts, on the other hand, always have a mission, e.g repair or to attach a new component when they leave the space station. This means they have to move along the ISS for hours. The biggest danger: losing connection to the space station.
Always hold on, “otherwise you’re gone”
“You have to always hold oneither by hand or with one Carabiner hooksays Cristoforetti. This is especially the case Russian Orlan suit important that she wore during her field mission. “The NASA suits have a safety wire that unrolls, the Russians don’t have that. You have to be a little more careful that the safety hooks are really firmly anchored, otherwise you’re gone.”
This is why you always attach the suit 2 carabiner hooks at the ISS. If you move, you unhook a hook, attach it somewhere else and then you can tighten the second hook.
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“The space station can’t follow anyone,” she says. That also emphasized Hervé Steveninwho leads ESA’s EVA training, during a visit to futurezone at the ESA astronaut center in Cologne. “The most important thing is safety because there are only two people outside at any time. They can only save each other.”
Lose nothing
It is also important for the ISS astronauts that they do not lose anything during an external mission. That floats Toolwhich they use for repairs, they cannot continue working. This means that supplies must first be sent up again with a supply ship, which delays later missions.
But it is not the only reason why it can become a problem. “The lost tool will then enter its own orbit and come with it high speed back. That’s how you endanger yourself and your colleagues,” says Stevenin.
Protect the suit
Outside the space station, the only thing protecting the astronauts is you Men’s suit. That’s why you should pay careful attention to it. “You have to be careful what you do touches. Some surfaces are contaminated and you don’t want to bring that into the station,” says Stevenin. The gloves could also be on sharp edges be damaged.
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The suit itself could also be one Malfunction have, about one pressure drop. “If the suit has a technical error, there is an alarm. “You train procedures to either solve the problem yourself or get back into it quickly,” describes Cristoforetti.
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“There’s no time to be impressed”
The fact that there are so many things to consider also ensures that you concentrate fully on the situation, says the astronaut. “You actually have no time to be impressed and thinking about it comes later. At that moment you are closed 100 percent concentratedit’s about: What is my hand doing, what is the other hand doing, what is the next step. It’s all like that stressful. You can’t get out and look at the landscape for the first time.”
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The situation could be quite frightening: you are stuck 400 km Höhe outside of a space station that comes with 28.800 km/h racing around the earth. That’s why it’s difficult to orientate yourself because the environment changes quickly. Above and below does not exist. At night you can only see what is illuminated by a small headlamp directly in front of you, the rest darkness. “This is our job. Many of us come from the military. “You’re used to concentrating on the now,” says Cristoforetti, describing how you deal with this pressure.
Polaris Dawn’s mission
The Polaris Dawn crew is currently waiting in Quarantine to favorable weather conditions. One Falcon-9-Rakete will be the Crew Dragon capsule bring into space. In addition to the EVA test, there will also be medical experiments carried out.
In addition, for the first time laser-based satellite communication with Starlink tested that are necessary for the moon and Mars missions. In addition, partly through the Van Allen belt (radiation belt) be flown. At a distance from Earth of 1.400 km The space capsule is supposed to set its own record.
