The moment of truth is approaching for the Polaris Dawn mission. After a successful launch on September 10, two of the four members of the SpaceX mission are set to perform the first private spacewalk, 700 kilometers from Earth, this Thursday, September 12. At around 10:50 a.m. (French time), billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis will perform this unprecedented spacewalk, broadcast live on X (ex-Twitter) and visible below.
It will be a test of fire for the company’s new suits, derived from those used in SpaceX’s spacecraft and reinforced to withstand the space environment. While only two crew members will actually exit the Dragon capsule used, the other two will also be exposed to the vacuum of space – the ship has no airlock.
Four years of training for amateur astronauts
So far, only astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) under the authority of the participating space agencies (American, Russian, European, Canadian and Japanese) or taikonauts from the Chinese space agency have carried out this type of highly perilous mission.
While the mission remains high-risk, SpaceX can boast solid experience. Over the past four years, Elon Musk’s company claims to have transported 50 astronauts on 13 manned flight missions, most of them to the ISS. In addition, the four astronauts underwent two years of intensive training including centrifuge sessions, hundreds of hours of space flight simulation, survival tests, altitude and zero-G training, etc.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
