Get ready for some out-of-this-world news! 🌌 A team of private astronauts is gearing up to make history with the first ever private spacewalk, all thanks to SpaceX's ambitious Polaris Dawn mission.
Launched in the early hours of Tuesday, the crew has been orbiting Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. Scheduled for Thursday at 2:23 a.m. ET (0623 GMT), the spacewalk will see two astronauts stepping out into the void at an altitude of 700 km, while the other two remain inside. Talk about taking a stroll like no other! 🛰️
Leading the mission is Jared Isaacman, the 41-year-old billionaire entrepreneur and pilot who founded the electronic payment company Shift4. You might remember him from the Inspiration4 mission in 2021, which took a civilian crew into orbit. This time, he's taking things to the next level! 🚀
Joining Isaacman are mission pilot Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX senior engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Gillis and Isaacman will don SpaceX's new slimmed-down spacesuits for the spacewalk, venturing outside the Crew Dragon tethered by an oxygen line, while Poteet and Menon keep things running inside.
This isn't just a big deal for SpaceX; it's a milestone for private space exploration. Until now, only government astronauts with years of training have performed spacewalks. The Polaris Dawn crew is set to change that narrative, pushing the boundaries of what's possible for commercial spaceflight. 🌠
The mission isn't just about making history; it's also about science. The crew will be key subjects in research to understand how the human body reacts to deep space, adding valuable data to decades of astronaut health studies.
SpaceX's Crew Dragon has become a workhorse for sending astronauts into orbit, primarily for NASA missions. But with ventures like Polaris Dawn, SpaceX is charting a new course for private space travel, making the final frontier more accessible than ever before. 🌍✨
So, keep your eyes on the skies, amigos! The future of space exploration is unfolding right before us, and it's nothing short of amazing. 🌌🚀
Reference(s):
SpaceX-Polaris crew poised to attempt first private spacewalk
cgtn.com
