SpaceX's attempt at the first-ever private spacewalk next week will be a test of trailblazing equipment.
Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, crew members of Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission, attend a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, earlier this week. Joe Skipper/Reutersthe first-ever private spacewalk next week will be a test of trailblazing equipment, including slim spacesuits and a cabin with no airlock, in one of the riskiest missions yet for Elon Musk ’s space company.
“They’re pushing the envelope in multiple ways,” retired Nasa astronaut Garrett Reisman said in an interview. “They’re also going to a much higher altitude, with a more severe radiation environment than we’ve been to since Apollo.” Far outside the protective bubble of Earth’s atmosphere, the electronics and shielding on Crew Dragon and spacesuits will be tested as they pass through parts of the Van Allen belt, an area where charged particles streaming mainly from the sun can disrupt satellites’ electronics and affect human health.“That’s an additional risk that you don’t face when you just stay in low-Earth orbit and go up to the ISS,” Reisman said.
The gumdrop-shaped Crew Dragon’s entire cabin will be depressurised and exposed to the vacuum of space. While only two of the astronauts will float outside, tethered by an oxygen line, the whole crew will depend on their spacesuits for life support.
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