SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission completes first commercial EVA
- Reference: 1726148708
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/09/12/polaris_dawn_eva/
- Source link:
The four astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission completed a pre-breathe process before donning their suits for the depressurization of the Crew Dragon capsule. The commander, Jared Isaacman, was the first of two astronauts to [1]venture outside the capsule after a few tugs on the spacecraft's hatch to open it.
While gripping handrails on the nose of the capsule, Isaacman performed mobility checks of SpaceX's EVA suit, which had inflated somewhat during the depressurization process but was still far less bulky than the spacesuits used by Space Shuttle and Apollo astronauts.
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Jared Isaacman emerging from nose of SpaceX Crew Dragon with Earth in the background (pic: SpaceX livestream)
Suit inflation has long been an issue for the space program. The first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov in 1965, could not return to his Voskhod capsule after his spacesuit inflated. Leonov was forced to open a valve to bleed off some pressure in order to return to the relative safety of the Voskhod's airlock.
[3]SpaceX aims high with Polaris Dawn mission
[4]SpaceX grounded after fumbling Falcon 9 landing for first time in years
[5]SpaceX set to surpass Gemini 11's altitude record with Polaris Dawn mission
[6]SpaceX Falcon 9 set for comeback after upper-stage failure
The decades since have seen huge improvements, but Isaacman's stiff movements indicate there is still more to be done. That said, the difference between the suit generations was marked.
Isaacman was outside the spacecraft for just over ten minutes before returning so that the second spacewalker, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, could venture outside to look at the Earth and repeat the mobility tests.
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Gillis also noted several bulges in the hatch seal as she floated outside, which she pushed back into place. She remained outside for ten minutes or so, before returning via the nose of the Crew Dragon capsule.
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On her way back into the capsule, Gillis reseated parts of the seal again before the hatch was closed and the spacecraft repressurized.
As well as being the first commercial spacewalk, which was notably more cautious than that of Leonov and the US's first spacewalker, Ed White, the Polaris Dawn mission also reached an [9]altitude of 1,400 km on September 11. The orbit was the highest since Gemini 11's in 1966 and was reduced to 700 km for the spacewalk. ®
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[1] https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1834183614898241617
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/09/12/spacex_eva.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/10/spacex_polaris_dawn_launches/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/30/spacex_falcon_9_failure/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/20/spacex_polaris_dawn/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/26/spacex_falcon_9_flight/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZuMQIbZfUXy_PKqz21HEUQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZuMQIbZfUXy_PKqz21HEUQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1833734681545879844
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Hoping to see the next iteration of HHMU and MMU soon!
Space stand?
It may be a publicity jaunt but that lot have more balls than a chinese takeaway ...
As for calmly pushing the hatch seal back into place whilst exposed to the vacuum of space ... twice! "Houston, did we pack a tube of Stixall?"
Actually, from an episode of Youtube channel "Smarter Every Day", in terms of managing pressure, the pressure differential in space is 1 atmosphere.
Underwater on Earth, it's many multiples so if you think of a deep sea diving suit it's nothing like a space suit.
You think we'd have sorted out the space suit one already but there are radiation and other concerns
Off the top of my head:
* Deep sea diving is a compression problem; hard vacuum is a tension problem
* Deep sea temperature regulation is over a range of maybe 20C? Space is a much wider range
* Mass isn't such a problem with a diving suit: make it as heavy as you like and buoyancy will help; space suits have to fit into the mass budget of the launcher
Have SpaceX managed to solve the problem of visor fogging? The last I heard that was still a problem with the ISS suits.
Good points but I'd quibble a bit with the termperature: yes, there are huge differences between light and shade. However, there's not that much actual energy per cm2. But the combination with the vacuum is going to be a challenge as is any form of articulation.
Real barrier to improving space suits
Budget
Space suits are rarely a vote winning issue. The current NASA xEMU suits for ISS have been in use since 1998. I do not mean the design. I really mean the actual suits are that old. They are based on the suits used in the space shuttle from 1983. The Artemis program would look very silly if they got to the Moon but could not go outside because they did not have Moon suits (xEMU is not designed for the Moon). I assume NASA only got funds for Moon suits in 2022 because the Apollo suits from 1972 are no longer functional.
Boeing....
Are you watching?
Criticise Elon all you want, but nobody can deny that SpaceX knows what it is doing, while the monkeys at Boeing can only consider lifting a model of Starliner off the CEOs table a successfully mission for the most part.
Re: Boeing....
Criticise Elon all you want, but nobody can deny that SpaceX knows what it is doing
Fortunately the criticizable entity and the actual operating bits of the successful one are kept relatively separate.
Flat earthers are going to be spitting!!!
Congratulations
Those suits did look pretty good, the issue of pressurisation is always going to be a challenge...