In the predawn hours Thursday, the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission suited up in specially designed SpaceX gear to prepare for the vacuum of space 435 miles above Earth. When billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis exited their SpaceX Dragon capsule, they became the first commercial astronauts to do so.
Because the Dragon has no airlock, the other two members of the crew, Anna Menon and Scott “Kidd” Poteet , also were exposed to the conditions of space despite remaining in the vehicle.
When the mission launched Tuesday, the SpaceX Dragon capsule bearing the astronauts traveled further into space than any spacecraft has gone in more than 50 years since NASA's Apollo era. The craft also surpassed the height reached by NASA's Gemini 11 in the 1960s, SpaceX said .
“This incredible milestone is all thanks to the hard work of the crew and many SpaceX teams, all focused on a goal of making life multiplanetary,” Stu Keech, vice president of Dragon at SpaceX, said in a statement about the spacewalk.
Jared Isaacman emerges Thursday from the SpaceX Dragon during a historic commercial spacewalk 435 miles above Earth. SpaceX
Shortly after liftoff, the Dragon's pressure began to slowly lower while oxygen levels inside the cabin increased, helping purge nitrogen from the crew members' bloodstreams. The protocol was to prepare the astronauts for the spacewalk and lower the risk of decompression sickness, SpaceX said .
A view of Earth and the Dragon capsule's Skywalker shortly after the Polaris Dawn crew launched into orbit on Sept. 10, 2024. SPACEX/AFP via Getty Images
After the spacecraft reached a maximum altitude of about 870 miles, the Dragon was to descend to a cruising orbit about 435 miles above Earth for the spacewalk itself.
When it came time for the maneuver around 6 a.m. Thursday, Isaacman was the first to venture out of the Dragon. As he emerged from the forward hatch, the adventurer and experienced pilot soaked in the stunning view.
"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said as SpaceX ground crews in Hawthorne, California could be heard on the livestream bursting into applause.
Gillis followed him shortly afterward, climbing out the “Skywalker” ladder at the top of the capsule to catch her first glimpse of the expanse of space. Gillis, an engineer who oversees astronaut training at SpaceX, would gain invaluable experience to train future astronauts, SpaceX officials have said.
Gillis was able to reenter the vehicle and securely latch and close the hatch so the crew could begin repressurizing the cabin .
SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis, a mission specialist on Polaris Dawn, ascends the hatch to exit the SpaceX Dragon during Thursday's spacewalk. The crew members are now the first private astronauts to conduct a spacewalk. SpaceX
Spacewalk timeline
Here's a look at how the Polaris Dawn spacewalk unfolded early Thursday:
1:35 a.m. SpaceX announces the spacewalk was delayed from its initial start time at around 2 a.m. and will begin at 5:58 a.m. EDT. A reason for the delay was not given.
5:14 a.m. Crew members climb into their spacesuits to prepare for cabin pressure to lower to that of the vacuum of space. While Isaacman and Gillis test the mobility of the spacesuits outside the capsule, Poteet and Menon remain strapped in their seats monitoring vital support systems.
5:25 a.m. The crew performs communication checks.
5:55 a.m. The crew is ready for seat rotation. The seats will be rotated so the crew has more room to move.
6:00 a.m. The SpaceX suits come complete with a heads-up display, which displays data in the crew members' visors. It shows data such as oxygen and temperature. They have about one hour and 50 minutes to complete the spacewalk. There are now live views from the spacecraft. The crew will have helmet cams, giving people on Earth live views of what the crew is seeing.
6:09 a.m. SpaceX gives the go for the spacewalk. The crew's spacesuits pressurize.
6:12 a.m. The spacewalk begins.
6:22 a.m. The crew finishes final pre-breath operations, a process to avoid decompression sickness.
6:30 a.m. The cabin is vented, which brings Dragon to vacuum. According to SpaceX, it will take eight minutes to match the vacuum of space. For the first time in history, all four crew members will technically be on a spacewalk.
6:50 a.m. Isaacman opens the hatch to venture outside.
7:00 a.m. Isaacman moves back inside to make way for Gillis to exit using the Skywalker.
7:04 a.m. Gillis observes that part of the seal on the hatch popped out, but it can simply be popped in, according to SpaceX.
7:06 a.m. Sarah Gillis is outside testing the spacesuit. SpaceX employees erupt into cheers to see one of their own preform a spacewalk.
7:14 a.m. Gillis was heard saying the seal has bulges again. She pops it back in place and prepares to close the hatch.
7:16 a.m. The Dragon hatch is now closed and sealed so the spacecraft can be pressurized. The process takes about an hour, SpaceX says.
7:30 a.m. Oxygen is added into the cabin. Nitrox (oxygen and nitrogen mixture) will be added to the suits to take the crew out of the suits' pure oxygen environment.
7:40 a.m. The cabin continues to pressurize, and no leaks have been found. The process is slow − as in scuba diving, there must be safety stops when changing to a different pressure so the body is not overexerted.
7:55 a.m. The Dragon has returned to normal pressure, what the astronauts are accustomed to on Earth. That means the crew can now get out of their EVA suits, officially ending the spacewalk.
All 4 Polaris Dawn astronauts exposed to the vacuum of space
Until now, spacewalks have come only under the purview of government spacefarers such as NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. What's more, the maneuvers most often take place in craft with airlocks.
But because the Dragon does not have an airlock, the entire spacecraft had to be depressurized when the hatch was opened, exposing the entire crew to the vacuum of space. For that reason, even mission specialist Menon and pilot Poteet needed to wear EVA suits designed by SpaceX to receive oxygen through tethers.
The crew of Polaris Dawn are seen in their SpaceX suits while training for the mission. SpaceX via Reuters
Not only have spacewalks historically not been commercial endeavors, but those who have taken part have done so in spacesuits regulated by a government space agency.
Aside from providing a launch site at its Kennedy Space Center, NASA is not part of the Polaris Dawn mission. But after the historic spacewalk, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson took to X to congratulate SpaceX and the crew.
"Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and NASA's long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy," Nelson said.
Isaacman, founder of internet company Shift4 Payment, is the only member of the Polaris Dawn crew to have been to outer space before. Menon and Gillis are also now not only the the first SpaceX employees to travel to space but have traveled higher than any other women in history.
The crew has already been testing a new laser-based satellite communication system using Starlink.
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