It was just after 12.30pm in Italy when the over two million people connected on Xwitnessed the spectacular images of the first private spacewalk with Polaris Dawn
It was just after 12.30 in Italy when the over two million people connected on Xwitnessed the spectacular images taken by the cameras mounted on the helmet of Jared Isaacman and on the covering cone of the nacelle hatch Crew Dragon Resilience of the mission Polaris Dawn. The first private, an astronaut not professionalleans into the void outside his spaceship, almost sixty years after the first one extravehicular activity of history, that of 18/3/1965 by Alexei Leonov.
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Il Deus Ex machina
finally the September 10, 2024After numerous postponements not due, in truth, to problems with the spacecraft but to adverse weather conditions both relating to the launch day and, what is more difficult to predict, which they would have found themselves upon reentry into the oceanthe mission Polaris Dawnmanaged by SpaceX on behalf of the billionaire Jared Isaacmanaims to reach many receive including the most spectacular, the first private EVA. It was remarkable economic commitment for the American billionaire he has Paid the bill of the mission, approximately 70 million USDbetween the cost of the launch and the training of the crew formed, together with the same Jared Isaacmanalso from retired USAF pilot Scott Poteetand from two SpaceX specialists Sarah Gillis ed Anna Menon. For the latter it’s a bit of a journey award conferred by the company to employees of the month.
If you think that 70 million dollars is a lot, well think that the good Isaacman he has already treated himself to a flight on the ISS with the mission Inspiration-4therefore it can be considered a space veteran being on its second trip into orbit.
Moreover, to pass the time during the numerous postponements of the launch, our man also performed in a formation flight above the Cape Canaveral launch pad piloting one Aero L-39 together with his adventure companions on board three Dornier Alpha jet; all owned by him, it goes without saying.
The objectives of the mission
Se ai posterity the mission, lasting five dayswill be delivered, in fact, with the first (double) EVA carried out by astronauts non-professionalsin reality there are at least others two firsts likewise important the first of which achieved already on the first day of flight: orbit with the highest apogee (1,400x 190 km.) never achieved since the time of the spaceships Gemini from the NASA. SpaceXwith the constellation of satellites Starlink it gave us the spectacular images of our Earth taken from so high up. But another primacylinked to a important medical-scientific experiment will see the spacecraft cross the area of Van Allen bands call South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In this area, located at a relatively low altitude (500 Km.) you can experiment with doses of even radiationin an orbit, three months of stay on the ISS. This test is of considerable importance for the study of radiation effects in outer space in anticipation of long space journeysfor example verse Marte.
And then we went out to see the stars again
But what has us nailed to screens around the world in more than two million individuals it was theEVA. Well, let’s say things as they are: so be it Jared Isaacman That Sarah Gillis they didn’t do one spacewalk like that of Leonovto be clear but, secure to the ship with a umbilical cord, they leaned out of the balustrade mounted in place of docking system from the Crew Dragon Resilience leaving the taken on this structure, called Skywalker (I think every reference is purely wanted) for a few moments. However it was all very interesting and fascinating for me voltage that the event aroused in the public. We all witnessed it, some with an eye enchantedsome with a little more eye technician the procedure overpressure who brought the suit of Isaacman to be inflated to more than 14 Psi (Pounds per Square Inch i.e. Pounds per Square Inch) of pure oxygen (almost 1 Bar) while the rest of the vessel was held at a pressure of 8 Psi (⅓ of atmosphere, so to speak) to test its tightness by simulating the pressure difference between outside and inside in a protected environment and then we all held our breath when, once the Dragon’s air had been sucked into the tanks, Isaacman ha open the tailgate and yes it is hoisted outside.
All taken up again high definition from the helmet camera and, then, from the external camera. Oh well, from the flight of Leonov they just passed 60 years old! We said: one view from the bridgea small one I jump and one turnaround and then we go back inside. But for write a page of historythat’s enough. After the billionaire patron of the mission, it fell to Sarah Gillis go outside. It’s a shame that the connection fell on the best part: this one EVA of the ship’s doctor of the mission Polaris Dawn we only have a few images.
Conclusions on Polaris Dawn
Paraphrasing Francesco de Gregori:
I’ll throw this huge suit of mine into the stars one day
I swear I will…
No, not butteremo the dear old ones EMU statunitensi is the Orlan Russian. We will still need them for a long time to work outside for a long time in all temperature and light conditions. What we saw, with great emotion, is the demonstration that the SpaceX, duly reinforced, they can withstand an exit outside as long as it is short-lived and in conditions of low solar illumination. Certainly the new suits, some of which are already being developed by Axiom Space for the US side, they will have lighter materials and will allow more freedom of movement than the current ones. But we have also noticed how, in the terminal phase of thethe movements of Isaacman had become slower and heavier. In short, if the space tourism is now an (expensive) reality, let’s bring home a nice showcase for the technologies of SpaceX and important scientific results whose impact, for the years to come, will undoubtedly be determinant. But to be able to dream of walking in space we will have to wait a little longer.
Let’s enjoy the moment.
