The Polaris Dawn mission has returned to Earth, thus reaching its historic milestone after being the first to have carried out a spacewalk with civilians. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, in which the four members of the mission were traveling, landed on the coast of Dry Tortugas, near Florida at around 9:36 a.m. in Spain, as planned.
The landing on the North American coast was uneventful with atmospheric entry at the height of Mexico about an hour before landing until the parachutes opened a few minutes later. before setting sail. A maneuver that SpaceX mastered and the crew returned to the ground without incident after 5 days in space.
During its multi-day mission in orbit, The Dragon capsule and its crew have reached 1,408.1 km, which represents the highest Earth orbit ever reached since the Apollo program in 1972. However, the milestone for which this mission will remain in history is that of the development of the first extravehicular activity (EVA) by civilians, a moment that will forever be remembered by the names of Isaacman and Gillis, who looked into space from the Dragon capsule, wearing the advanced EVA suits developed by Elon Musk’s company.
A historical walk
This mission will be remembered most for Isaacman and Gillis’ spacewalk, which opened a new era of space tourism. The Polaris Dawn astronauts began preparations for the spacewalk shortly after the Falcon 9 rocket took off using a two-day pre-inspiration process.
According to the program in a press release, this phase was designed to “prevent decompression syndrome” “Slowly acclimating the crew to lower pressures while slowly increasing oxygen levels in the spacecraft cabin.” Once completed, preparations for the walk began, such as donning EVA suits, completing leaks, and depressurizing the Dragon capsule.
In addition, the astronauts had to gradually purge the nitrogen from their blood so that when the spacecraft depressurized and the vacuum hatch opened, the gas did not form bubbles in their circulatory system. So they had to slowly decrease the oxygen levels inside the cabin, which is very important since Dragon doesn’t have an airlock. And that’s another reason why Menon and Poteet, who were inside, were also dressed in EVA suits, equipped with a head-up display (HUD) and a cutting-edge camera; in addition to new fabrics and thermal management materials from SpaceX vehicles.
After opening the hatch, and for about twenty minutes, Isaacman and Gillis exited the capsule and conducted a series of tests to assess the mobility of the Dragon’s clothing, thermal systems, and mobility aids before returning to the cabin and closing the hatch. Once this was complete, the capsule was repressurized, cabin pressure and oxygen levels were confirmed, and the crew was able to remove their EVA suits. “SpaceX, back home, we all have a lot of work to do, but From here, the Earth looks like a perfect world.“, mused Isaacman upon his release.
About thirty studies
In addition to the spacewalk, the crew also performed some 36 research and experiments from 31 partner institutions designed to improve human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight, as well as to test Starlink’s laser communications in space.
SpaceX says the mission was a success because “the Polaris Dawn crew combined their experience, knowledge, and passion for spaceflight to advance human space exploration.” Specifically, it was the first human spaceflight for mission pilot Kidd Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and mission specialist and physician Anna Menon. Mission commander Jared Isaacman has flown in space before as the commander of Inspiration4, but On this occasion he was able to look into space.
The Polaris Dawn mission crew
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Moreover, it is also It was the first time that two SpaceX workers (Menon and Gillis) were part of a human spaceflight crew that provided valuable information to the company to develop future missions toward the creation of multi-planetary life, Elon Musk’s grand goal.
Among the experiments carried out, the use of ultrasound to measure the evolution of the structure of the eye in microgravity and the use of contact lenses with integrated microelectronics, which will allow continuous monitoring of changes in the shape and pressure of the eye.
Engineer Sarah Gillis plays the violin in the Dragon capsule.
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The Dragon probe also made its first pass South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA)a region where Earth’s magnetic field is weaker, where high-energy particles from space penetrate closer to Earth. In its wake, mission control operators and the crew worked to monitor and react to the vehicle’s systems throughout all phases of high-apogee flight.
