Revolution or Hype? Polaris Dawn’s First Commercial Spacewalk

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This Week’s Next-Gen Newsflash

🚀 SpaceX launch the FIRST commercial spacewalk, Polaris Dawn!!!

🛰️ NASA Finally Chooses Dragon for Starliner Crew Return

Today’s Subject of Space: Revolution or Hype? Polaris Dawn’s First Commercial Spacewalk

Historic First: A Commercial Spacewalk

In an unprecedented achievement, the Polaris Dawn mission conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk on Thursday. Jared Isaacman - a billionaire entrepreneur, leading the mission, and Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, stepped outside the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, marking a monumental shift in private space travel. While Isaacman marveled at the sight of Earth from space, he emphasized the significance of this achievement as a step towards future Mars missions, expressing his pride in testing spacesuits that could play a vital role in interplanetary exploration.

The Crew Dragon: A Unique Approach to Spacewalks

Unlike traditional spacecraft used by government agencies, the Crew Dragon capsule does not have an airlock, which meant all four crew members had to wear spacesuits as the vehicle was depressurized. Isaacman and Gillis carefully exited the spacecraft one at a time, using a handrail called Skywalker to guide their movements. The two other crew members, Scott Poteet and Anna Menon, remained inside to monitor the systems. This process highlights the innovation and adaptability needed for commercial missions to perform complex operations in space.

Beyond Exploration: Polaris Dawn’s Mission Goals

The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three planned ventures to push commercial spaceflight boundaries. The mission is not just about spacewalking but also about advancing technology for long-term space exploration. One goal is to develop more advanced spacesuits, which will be crucial for missions to Mars and other off-world colonies. Isaacman envisions future spacesuits built on the technology tested during Polaris Dawn, laying the groundwork for humanity’s ambitious goal of exploring the Red Planet.

A Vision for Space Commerce: Satellite Repairs and More

Commercial spacewalks could pave the way for future possibilities, including in-orbit satellite repairs — a task once reserved for government agencies like NASA. Isaacman has even hinted at the possibility of using future Polaris missions to repair NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, extending its operational life. These developments show how private space ventures are quickly catching up to, and possibly even surpassing, the capabilities of governmental space programs.

Testing Human Limits: High Altitude and Radiation Exposure

During the mission, the Crew Dragon capsule reached a record altitude of 870 miles above Earth — the highest orbit since NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1970s. At such altitudes, the crew passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly, a region with weaker magnetic fields that exposes astronauts to higher levels of radiation. The crew is conducting about 40 experiments on the physiological effects of space travel, such as radiation exposure and weightlessness, which will provide crucial data for future long-duration missions.

The Challenges of Spacewalking

Spacewalks are one of the most daring and technically demanding aspects of spaceflight, but they are not without risk. However, meticulous planning and advanced technology have made spacewalks much safer over the years. There have been more than 270 spacewalks at the International Space Station since 1998, with few serious incidents. The Polaris Dawn crew, while performing a shorter and simpler spacewalk, still faced the challenge of operating in the harsh vacuum of space with only their spacesuits providing protection.

Preparing for Future Spacewalks

To prepare for the spacewalk, the crew began acclimating to the lower pressures almost as soon as they reached orbit. The air pressure in the Crew Dragon was gradually reduced to half to prevent decompression sickness, also known as the bends, which can occur when nitrogen in the blood forms bubbles due to a rapid decrease in pressure. This process is similar to how deep-sea divers avoid the bends by ascending slowly. During the spacewalk, the crew members breathed pure oxygen to ensure that any remaining nitrogen was flushed from their system.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Commercial Space Missions

Polaris Dawn is not just a mission; it is a vision of the future of space exploration. With plans for two more Polaris missions, Isaacman and SpaceX are pushing the limits of what private companies can achieve in space. Future missions will continue to test new technologies and explore new frontiers, bringing the dream of commercial space travel closer to reality. As Isaacman remarked, future astronauts stepping onto Mars might be wearing the very spacesuit designs being tested on this mission.

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🚀 🚀 NASA's Surprising Decision: Starliner Astronauts Will Return on SpaceX Dragon

In a surprising turn of events, NASA has made a significant decision: the two astronauts who piloted Boeing’s Starliner on its test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) will now return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. This decision follows months of rigorous analysis and deliberation, marking a pivotal moment in the rivalry between Boeing and SpaceX.

So, why the sudden change?

NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, explained the reasoning in a press conference after the agency's flight readiness review. The issue lies with Starliner’s thrusters, which have been problematic since the mission’s launch. Despite the engineers' best efforts, they couldn’t gain enough confidence in the thruster system to risk a crewed return. “It was just too much risk to the crew,” Stich said. As a result, NASA made the tough but unanimous decision to bring Starliner back to Earth autonomously in early September—without astronauts aboard.

This means that astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who piloted Starliner to the ISS, will return aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule. Crew Dragon is expected to launch to the ISS in September and bring the astronauts back to Earth in February, extending their mission from the planned eight days to an unexpected eight months.

Boeing’s Ongoing Struggles

This decision is another blow for Boeing, which has already faced a host of delays, cost overruns, and technical challenges with Starliner. The project has so far cost Boeing $1.6 billion, and the latest setback adds another layer of complexity. Despite these issues, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remains optimistic about Starliner’s future. When asked whether he thought the spacecraft would fly again, Nelson responded confidently: “100%.”

Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, has also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Starliner project, stating that Boeing remains focused on the safety of the crew and the spacecraft. However, the company may be forced to reconsider Starliner’s propulsion system if it wants to prove the spacecraft is safe for future crewed flights.

This situation poses a significant challenge for Boeing, which is already grappling with other difficulties in its aviation sector. Redesigning the propulsion system will require substantial time and resources, but Starliner is still under contract for six operational missions to the ISS. Boeing’s ability to meet this commitment now hangs in the balance.

NASA's Focus on Safety

The decision to switch the astronauts’ return to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon underscores NASA’s unwavering commitment to crew safety. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who experienced the dangers of spaceflight firsthand as an astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle in 1986, spoke passionately about the need for transparency and open communication within the agency. He referenced past tragedies, such as the Challenger and Columbia disasters, to emphasize the importance of allowing engineers to voice concerns without fear of reprisal.

“We have had mistakes done in the past, we lost two Space Shuttles as a result of their not being a culture in which information could come forward,” Nelson said. “NASA, ever since, has tried very hard to bring about an atmosphere in which people are encouraged to step forward and speak their mind.”

A Tough Moment for Starliner’s Team

This turn of events marks a difficult moment for the thousands of engineers and technicians who have worked on Starliner since its inception in 2014. NASA’s Steve Stich acknowledged the emotional toll of the decision: “There is a sense of not accomplishing the mission we set out to do,” he said. “I can’t express in words what it’s like when you commit to a mission, work on a mission for so long, and make a fairly dramatic change, which we have not done in human spaceflight in a long time.”

With Starliner now returning autonomously, Boeing faces a daunting road ahead. But with NASA’s continued backing and the potential for future flights, the spacecraft’s story is far from over. The question remains—can Boeing overcome these challenges and return Starliner to crewed flight? Only time will tell.