(Washington) They are to carry out the first private spacewalk in history: the four members of a SpaceX mission representing a new step for commercial space exploration arrived Monday in Florida, ahead of their takeoff next week.
The commander of this five-day mission, named Polaris Dawn, is American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who already went to space in 2021 aboard another SpaceX mission he chartered, Inspiration4.
“It’s been two and a half years since we announced the Polaris program and it’s been an exciting journey of development and training,” the billionaire said at a news conference Monday.
He did not disclose how much he has invested in the program, which is to include three missions in total, funded by both him and SpaceX.
For the trip, the company developed its first generation of space suits, all white and futuristic looking.
“It’s going to be epic!” promised SpaceX boss Elon Musk.
PHOTO AUBREY GEMIGNANI, NASA ARCHIVES, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
For the trip, SpaceX has developed its first generation of suits designed for the vacuum of space, all white and with a futuristic look.
Rocket takeoff Falcon9 is scheduled for Monday, August 26, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with a launch window opening before dawn.
Two SpaceX employees will be on the trip. The first, Sarah Gillis, is in charge of astronaut training for the company and had trained Jared Isaacman for Inspiration4.
The second, Anna Menon, worked for NASA before joining SpaceX.
“I’ve spent years trying to get into the shoes of astronauts in space, I’m really looking forward to experiencing it for myself,” she said.
The fourth passenger is pilot Scott Poteet, a close friend of Jared Isaacman.
Intensive training
The four adventurers underwent intensive training: some 2,000 hours in a simulator, centrifuge sessions (rapid rotation), scuba diving, parachute jumping and climbing the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador…
“This was some of the toughest training I’ve ever done,” said Scott Poteet, who flew fighter jets for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force.
The mission has three main objectives, in addition to the forty or so experiments carried out on board.
First, to reach an altitude of 1,400 km, the furthest distance for a crew since the Apollo lunar missions. The latter having carried only men, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis will become the two women to have traveled the furthest from Earth.
For comparison, the International Space Station is at an altitude of about 400 km, and the distance from the Earth to the Moon is 380,000 km.
A laser communication test is also planned between the ship and the satellites. Starlink from SpaceX.
But above all, once in a lower orbit, the famous spacewalk should be broadcast live on the third day of the mission.
The ship – the capsule Dragon – not being equipped with an airlock, the entire crew will be exposed to the vacuum of space when its hatch is opened. Two passengers will remain on board, while two others will each venture outside in turn.
They will perform movements to test the new suits, remaining attached to the capsule, although sometimes only by the feet.
“So much to explore”
These suits are derived from those already used by SpaceX inside its ships. But they have notably been developed to withstand extreme temperatures and equipped with cameras.
“Someday, someone might take a version of this to Mars,” so this first release is “a great honor,” said Jared Isaacman, CEO of financial firm Shift4.
After this first mission of the Polaris program, a second similar one is planned. The next one should be the first crewed flight of the megarocket. Starship from SpaceX, currently in development.
This heavy launcher is intended for trips to the Moon and Mars.
Jared Isaacman praised the role of the private sector in “crossing this final frontier.”
“I would like my children to see men walking on the moon and Mars,” he said. “We haven’t even scratched the surface yet.” […] There are so many things to explore.”