When billionaire Jared Isaacman traveled to space for the first time in 2021 in a self-funded project called Inspiration4, it raised $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When he returned, he didn’t imagine he would be going back into space again. Now, he awaits his thrilling return to space, this time with a more ambitious, riskier mission—the first private spacewalk. The four-membered crew, including Jared himself, arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, a week before their launch on 26th August on the spacecraft Crew Dragon. The other members are SpaceX engineers Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis, and former Air Force pilot Scott Poteet.
Why is Polaris important for space exploration?
Jared and SpaceX bonded before in the Inspiration4 project, which aimed to show that people from diverse fields of life can travel to space. On the follow-up, Jared and SpaceX introduced us to their jointly funded three-part Polaris program in 2022—Polaris Dawn being the first of the three.
Second farthest travelers in space
After the launch of the five-day mission, Polaris Dawn, it will travel 870 miles or around 1400 kilometers into the orbit of the Earth, a region deep in Van Allen radiation belts, and the second-farthest traveled by humans in over half a century. The top spot is still held by the astronauts onboard the Apollo spacecraft that took the first astronauts to the moon.
Novel technique to be used in breathing support
Once into space, the astronauts will begin a “pre-breathe” to prevent decompression or, in diving terms, “the bends”, where nitrogen forms bubbles in the bloodstream. Notably, the team will use a novel method of preventing decompression, which involves slowly decreasing cabin pressure and raising oxygen concentration. The total procedure will take around 45 hours. This is necessary as the spacecraft Crew Dragon lacks an airlock (specialized areas on ISS that serve as decompression chambers).
Definitely, the spacewalk!
On the third day of the mission, the Polaris Dawn crew will open the Crew Dragon’s hatch at 435 miles, where Isaacman and Gillis will exit the spacecraft, anchored by a pair of umbilicals for the spacewalk.
Testing out EVA spacesuits and life support systems
Next, Jared’s mission involves experiments and developing the future of space travel—testing brand-new Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) space suits designed in just two-and-a-half years and life-support technologies developed by SpaceX. Notably, NASA has been looking for a viable alternative to the spacesuits being used in ISS. However, as noted by Reisman, a SpaceX consultant, EVA spacesuits lack a Primary Life Support System (PLSS), which provides astronauts with more mobility when repairing or replacing hardware.
Although in the primary stage, the Polaris mission shows how effective the SpaceX team is in designing new pieces of technology. Isaacman himself is inspired by the motto of Musk’s SpaceX team, which is to make humans a multi-planetary species and eventually go on to carve out a future in which humans can go to Mars or other alien planets.
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