12 September 2024 , 11:27
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The world’s first commercial spacewalk is officially underway, headed by billionaire Jared Isaacman.
Isaacman and a team of three astronauts launched into space yesterday as part of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, intended to field-test the company’s new EVA spacesuits.
The mission will take around two hours to complete, and will see Isaacman and fellow SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis spend spacewalk for around 15 minutes each.
There is no airlock in the capsule, and the entire craft will be depressurised while the walk takes place, meaning all members of the crew have to rely on their spacesuit to breathe.
Isaacman and Gillis will be tethered by an ‘umbilical’ cord during the walk, which will provide air, cooling and ensure ‘they are not gonna go floating off into space’, a SpaceX commentator explained on the livestream.
Fellow crew members Anna Menon Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet will remain inside the craft to feed the spacewalkers oxygen and power and ensure everything runs properly.
Polaris Dawn’s crew are all suited up and ready to perform the EVA suit leak checks before the spacewalk begins.
Footage from the livestream shows them fistbumping as they prepare for the walk.
If successful, the mission mark a major milestone in the development and viability of commercial space travel, and is seen as a proof of concept which will lead to easier and cheaper access to space.
To date, only well-funded state-run agencies such as Nasa and Russia’s Roscosmos, have so far managed to carry out spacewalks.