Billionaire takes off for first ever private spacewalk

Billionaire Jared Isaacman has embarked on an extraordinary journey into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, marking a significant milestone in private space exploration. This mission, known as Polaris Dawn, aims to achieve the first-ever privately funded spacewalk. Jared, who is the founder of Shift4, a payments processing company, is not alone on this adventure. He is joined by his close friend Scott 'Kidd' Poteet, a retired air force pilot, and two skilled SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. Together, they will be traveling in a spacecraft named Resilience, which is set to reach an impressive altitude of 870 miles above Earth, a height that has not been reached by humans since the end of NASA's Apollo program in the 1970s.

As they journey into space, the astronauts will pass through a region known as the Van Allen belt, which is characterized by high levels of radiation. However, the crew will be well-protected by their spacecraft and newly upgraded spacesuits. During their time in this radiation zone, they will experience exposure equivalent to three months of radiation that astronauts typically encounter on the International Space Station. The primary goal of this mission is to study how short but safe exposure to radiation affects the human body. On the second day of their mission, the crew will be at their maximum altitude, where they plan to conduct up to 40 experiments, including testing intersatellite laser communication between the Dragon spacecraft and SpaceX's Starlink satellite network. If everything goes according to plan, on the third day, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis are expected to attempt the first-ever privately funded spacewalk, which is scheduled to last for two hours while they are orbiting at an altitude of 700 kilometers.

The astronauts will be wearing advanced extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, which have been specifically designed for working outside of spacecraft. These suits are an upgrade from the intravehicular activity (IVA) suits used inside the spacecraft. Sarah Gillis, during her training for the spacewalk, expressed the importance of this mission for SpaceX's future plans to send humans to other planets. She stated, 'So far only countries have been able to perform a spacewalk. SpaceX has huge ambitions to get to Mars and make life multiplanetary. ' Jared Isaacman echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need for EVA capabilities to achieve their long-term goal of populating another planet. The mission aims to make spacesuits more versatile and affordable, accommodating a wider range of astronaut sizes as human spaceflight becomes more common.

A unique aspect of this mission is that the Dragon spacecraft, Resilience, does not have an airlock, which is typically a sealed room that allows astronauts to enter and exit the vacuum of space. Instead, the entire spacecraft will need to be depressurized, and the astronauts who are not participating in the spacewalk will also be fully suited up. This adaptation allows for a record number of people to be in the vacuum of space simultaneously. The flight team is also using this opportunity to study the effects of decompression sickness, known as the 'bends,' and the blurry vision that astronauts sometimes experience in space, referred to as spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome. The data collected from this mission will help pave the way for future high-altitude missions by the private sector, potentially leading to trips to the Moon or Mars. The crew is aware of the challenges ahead, as Isaacman has only been to space once before, while the other three crew members are first-time space travelers. Dr. Adam Baker, a rocket propulsion expert, noted that while there are risks involved, the crew has spent thousands of hours simulating the mission to prepare themselves. If successful, this mission could signal the beginning of a new era of private space exploration, with more affordable and accessible opportunities for individuals to travel beyond Earth.