- The Polaris Dawn mission became the furthest manned space flight since the Apollo missions (1961 to 1972).
Billionaire Jared Isaacman and engineer Sarah Gillis made history on Thursday, September 12, by becoming the first astronauts to complete the first private spacewalk in history by successfully exiting the Dragon capsule. Space Xlocated 700 kilometers (435 miles) from Earth.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do back home, but it looks like a perfect world from here,” Isaacman said as he peered into space and looked down at Earth from 6:52 a.m. ET.
The billionaire founder of the online payments company Shift4 was fulfilling his dream of successfully completing the Polaris Dawn mission, the first of three he purchased from Elon Musk’s Space X in 2022 for his Polaris Program.
This is Isaacman’s second time commanding a mission, having already gone in 2021 with Inspiration4, the first fully commercial mission to orbit the planet, and the first in which he achieved the milestone of walking in space.
The women who have traveled the furthest
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Sarah Gillis, the chief operations engineer and flight medical officer, just 30 years old, has become the first woman to walk in space on a private mission.
She and her crewmate, Space X engineer Anna Menon, are now the two women who have traveled the furthest from Earth, beating the record of 621 kilometers achieved by NASA astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, when she participated in the deployment of Hubble in 1990.
The Polaris Dawn mission itself, which took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday, September 10, already marked another milestone on September 11 by exceeding 1,400 kilometers from Earth, the farthest manned trip since the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago.
Once the Dragon capsule reached that distance, it completed the six planned orbits around the Earth’s surface.
The mission has entered the so-called Van Allen radiation belts, areas with energetic particles trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field, where they will carry out dozens of scientific experiments.
Preparing astronauts
The first private spacewalk by astronauts not belonging to a government space agency took place after 40 minutes of preparations during which all kinds of tests were carried out, including the use of a single hand to control body movement and the safety of the foot restraint device.
After carrying out all these tests, the hatch of the ship was opened and Isaacman slowly emerged into space, along with all those who were following his live broadcast, which allowed them to contemplate a vivid and impressive view of the Earth.
The astronaut was wearing one of the suits being tested on this mission, which has been improved to protect astronauts from radiation and the extreme thermal environment of space.
After 10 minutes, the commander returned to the ship and at 7:05 am US time, engineer Sarah Gillis left.
Both were in constant contact with the ship during their ride via the handrails and rails added to the capsule for this purpose.
Although they were the only ones who made it into space, all four crew members, including pilot Scott Poteet, were wearing pressure suits equipped with cameras, as the Dragon capsule has no airlocks and so the entire capsule was depressurized before the hatch was opened for the spacewalk.
The two astronauts successfully launched into space at 07:58 US time.
With information from EFE
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#Jared #Isaacman #Sarah #Gillis #completed #private #spacewalk #history
2024-09-12 23:17:38
What are the key achievements of the Polaris Dawn mission in the context of private space exploration?
Polaris Dawn Mission: A Historic Feat in Space Exploration
The Polaris Dawn mission has made history by becoming the furthest manned space flight since the Apollo missions (1961 to 1972). This remarkable achievement was accomplished by billionaire Jared Isaacman and engineer Sarah Gillis, who successfully completed the first private spacewalk in history on September 12, 2024.
Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) and an accomplished pilot and astronaut [[1]], fulfilled his dream of completing the Polaris Dawn mission, the first