Posted on 09/12/2024 4:54:48 AM PDT by jerod
By Denise Chow Four private citizens orbiting Earth in a SpaceX capsule are making history by completing the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched into space Tuesday to begin a five-day flight.
Their spacewalk began at 6:12 a.m. ET, having been delayed a few hours.
During the outing, Isaacman and Gillis exited the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a tether. Although they are the only ones to venture outside the spacecraft, all four crew members wore and tested newly designed spacesuits during the event. That’s because the Crew Dragon does not have a pressurized airlock, so the entire capsule will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions.
Overall, the Polaris Dawn mission is designed to test procedures and technologies that could be used in future long-duration space missions. Already in their journey, the crew members flew to the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface.
The flight was funded by Isaacman for an undisclosed sum.
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Denise Chow
During the Crew Dragon capsule’s first orbit around Earth, the spacecraft reached an altitude of 755 miles, marking the farthest Dragon mission flown to date, according to SpaceX.
Hours later, the capsule flew even higher, reaching an altitude of 870 miles above Earth’s surface. The maneuver marked the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached in 52 years, since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972.
An orbital altitude of 870 miles is more than three times higher than the International Space Station
Musk resurrected - and saved - our space program. meanwhile NASA is tainted with 2 astronauts still waiting to return to Earth. private enterprise v government
The Musk genius lies in his charisma and ability to find and gather the best minds America has to offer.
Musk is a fantastic leader
It must suck to be stranded on the ISS while a spacecraft launches, space walks, and goes home right beside you.
Boeing is DEIing.
I just found out that a friend of mine, who is a retired electrical engineer from GM, worked on Apollo’s 10, 11 and 12.....
Disappointing.
They popped their heads out of the capsule like a prairie dog on the plain.
Not a traditional “space walk” to my way of thinking.
Potential to repair the Hubble looms large.
Harris stands opposed to all Isaacman has accomplished in his life. She opposes meritocracy, capitalism, and wealth.
Isaacman is only 41 years old!
...the capsule flew even higher, reaching an altitude of 870 miles above Earth’s surface. The maneuver marked the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached in 52 years, since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972.
The flight was funded by Isaacman for an undisclosed sum.
This is the true genius of Musk.
Use space tourism to get others to fund the development of your products.
He’s very good at using other peoples money... Then again... So was J.P. Morgan. Remember him?
It’s smart having the engineers fly on the first flight. Brilliant, actually. It’s like making parachute packers jump with their own chutes.
Yes Musk is a genius, but so is Jared Isaacman, whose crew performed this mission, and a prior one. He paid SpaceX to get his crew to this spot, but everything else was his setup.
In a healthy country, this story would lead national news broadcasts. But because the media hates Musk, it is relegated to low-placement web articles.
Private run and funded space program-successful.
It’s too bad NASA is govt. funded. The tired old management style and the POLITICIANS need to get the hell out of running it, otherwise it’s going to become irrelevant very soon.
Private industry is flying rings around NASA.
Private run and funded space program-successful.
It’s too bad NASA is govt. funded. The tired old management style and the POLITICIANS need to get the hell out of running it, otherwise it’s going to become irrelevant very soon.
Private industry is flying rings around NASA.
I was thinking the same thing, but as it turns out the Dragon capsule wasn't configured for docking...
This was done in 1965.
Never forget, Bezos started Blue origin two years before Musk started SpaceX...and he’s still playing catch up to Musk, that’s gotta be an ego bruiser!
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