Houston, Texas - The Polaris Dawn crew has achieved a significant milestone in the lead-up to their historic mission, completing the final series of spacesuit acceptance tests at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This crucial step marks a major breakthrough in the development of SpaceX's newly developed EVA spacesuit, designed for the first-ever commercial extravehicular activity in low-Earth orbit.
Photo Credit: Polaris Program/John Kraus
The tests, conducted between June 24 to June 28, saw the crew don the spacesuits in a vacuum environment for the first time, simulating the conditions they will face during the upcoming spacewalk. The tests aimed to familiarize the crew with the suits' performance, collect essential data on the suits' and their biometric performance, and prepare them for the physical demands of the spacewalk.
The Polaris Dawn mission, set to launch later this year, will mark a significant milestone in commercial space exploration. The crew, consisting of Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon, will conduct a two-hour spacewalk outside the Dragon spacecraft.
During the spacewalk, Isaacman and Gillis will exit the spacecraft through the forward hatch, while Poteet and Menon will remain inside, managing spacesuit umbilicals and monitoring telemetry on Dragon's interior displays. This historic event will not only be the first commercial spacewalk but also the first time four astronauts will be exposed to the vacuum of space simultaneously.
Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon Photo Credit: Polaris Program/John Kraus
The tests were conducted in a historic chamber facility at NASA's Johnson Space Centccer, previously used for spacesuit and spacecraft testing during the Gemini and Apollo programs. The facility, built in the mid-1960s, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and continues to support space industry tests.
"It was a profound feeling for our crew to conduct operations in the same vacuum chambers that supported the Gemini and Apollo programs in the 1960s," said Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander. "These facilities were declared national historic landmarks because of the history they made then, and still today they make history and advance humankind's capabilities in space. We are very grateful to the teams at NASA and SpaceX who contributed to the development and safe testing of these spacesuits."
The successful completion of this milestone brings the Polaris Dawn mission one step closer to achieving a significant breakthrough in commercial space exploration. As the crew prepares for their historic spacewalk, they are paving the way for a future where millions of humans will visit, work, and live on the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in our solar system.
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