Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on February 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, California. - Isaacman's all-civilian Inspiration4 mission will raise $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through a donation based sweepstakes to select a member of the crew.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
SpaceX's first private spacewalk is finally happening and its launching a billionaire to do the historic mission.
On Tuesday, AP News reported that the then-delayed mission due to poor weather departed earth from Florida's Cape Canaveral aboard Falcon 9 rocket. The spacewalker, in question, is tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who aims to challenge NASA's Apollo moonwalk's distance with SpaceX's 'Polaris Dawn' mission.
This time, compared to his flights, Isaacman poured some of his millions to SpaceX to create and test brand new spacesuits in the International Space Station. While they will not go far away from the capsule, testing the suits in spacewalk is crucial as it is considered the riskiest part of space missions.
Since 1965, only professional astronauts can perform spacewalks. Now, a tech billionaire get to be the first.
Isaacman will be doing the spacewalk on Thursday, September 12, but the overall flight will take them 5 days. He is accompanied by two SpaceX engineers and a retired Air Force pilot.
To do the world's first private spacewalk mission, Fortune shared that these passengers are aiming to go way beyond the International Space Station at an altitude of 870 miles. This means they aim to surpass the record set during NASA's Project Gemini in 1966, done by 24 Apollo astronauts.
Then, they will spend 10 hours at that altitude. They will be exposed to extreme radiation and debris before they cut the altitude in half or 435 miles. Take note that even if cut in half, this is still higher than the international space station and Hubble Space Telescope.
Another thing that makes this first private spacewalk mission is due to its strong reliance to SpaceX suits because during the 2-hour spacewalk, air inside the capsule will be removed. The spacesuit will be handling the air and pressure so the four can survive during the mission.
Moreover, Time Magazine shared that Isaacman and engineer Sarah Gillis will test their spacesuits by moving and twisting their bodies during spacewalk. To remain safe, they must keep one hand or foot connected to the spacecraft. While they will not dangling on the end of their tethers, they won't be using jetpacks either to move around, which is unlike professional NASA astronauts who keep jetpacks in case of emergencies.
At the end of Polaris Dawn mission, the crew will be splashing down in Florida coast.
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