SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission crew completes first all-civilian spacewalk

Today’s all-civilian spacewalk was a major focus of the Polaris Dawn mission, but the flight is designed to carry out various science experiments and public outreach, as well.

The five-day mission will also help researchers assess the health of astronauts and their spacecraft in different space radiation environments, which could help SpaceX plan future missions to the moon and Mars.

At the end of the expedition, the Crew Dragon capsule will splash down off the coast of Florida, but SpaceX has not yet released details about the upcoming landing.

The Polaris Dawn crew confirmed that the spacecraft’s hatch is now closed. Mission controllers reported that the seals appear to be in good working order.

Pressure inside the cabin is now increasing and the crew will perform another round of cabin leak checks next. The re-pressurization process is expected to take up to 50 minutes, according to SpaceX.

The Dragon capsule has been re-pressurized and leak checks were conducted to ensure that the cabin’s pressure matches the pressure inside the crew members’ spacesuits.

This will allow Isaacman, Gillis, Menon and Poteet to take off their suits and resume normal operations.

During the Crew Dragon capsule’s first orbit around Earth, the spacecraft reached an altitude of 755 miles, marking the farthest Dragon mission flown to date, according to SpaceX.

Hours later, the capsule flew even higher, reaching an altitude of 870 miles above Earth’s surface. The maneuver marked the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached in 52 years, since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972.

An orbital altitude of 870 miles is more than three times higher than the International Space Station.

Gillis is heading back inside the Dragon capsule after spending roughly 7 minutes in the vacuum of space.

On her way in, she reported seeing bulges on the hatch seals again. Next, the crew members will begin closing the hatch and wrapping up the spacewalk.

Gillis, a senior engineer at SpaceX, is now exiting the Dragon capsule. Cheers from her colleagues in Hawthorne, California, could be heard on the webcast as she traveled through the hatch.

Prior to stepping out into space, Gillis reported seeing seals around the hatch that appear to be bulging. Kate Tice, a SpaceX engineer and one of the hosts of the livestream, said the deformities were not unexpected and Gillis was advised to pop them back into place.

Good seals around the hatch will be crucial at the end of the spacewalk, when the door is closed once again and the cabin is re-pressurized.

Isaacman has climbed back into the Dragon capsule and Gillis will be next to step outside and perform the same spacesuit mobility tests.

Isaacman spent roughly 10 minutes out in the vacuum of space and Gillis will have more or less the same allotment of time before she returns inside.

It's a historic moment as Isaacman performs a series of spacesuit maneuvers outside the Dragon capsule. Before today, only astronauts from government space agencies had ventured out into the vacuum of space on spacewalks.

While attached to a tether, Isaacman is testing how well the spacesuit performs with different movements, including climbing up and down and reaching with each arm.

He's also devoting some time to taking in the views. "It's gorgeous," he radioed back to mission controllers on the ground.

Cheers erupted from SpaceX’s mission control in Hawthorne, California, as Isaacman’s helmet camera captured each step of his journey out into the vacuum of space.

Isaacman said that back on Earth there is a lot of work to do, but that the view of the planet from space is “perfect.”

The hatch is now fully open, marking an important milestone in this spacewalk.

Isaacman reported to mission controllers that the seals around the hatch "look good," which will be important for the end of the spacewalk, when the hatch is closed again.

The webcast features live views from Isaacman's helmet camera as he prepares to exit the spacecraft.

The crew members were given a "go" to open the capsule's hatch. Isaacman is now maneuvering a crank to open and unlatch the door.

SpaceX’s newly designed spacesuits are significantly less bulky compared to the iconic white suits that NASA astronauts wear on spacewalks.

SpaceX engineers described the new design as a "suit of armor made of fabric," adding that new joints and features were added to help people move around easier inside — and outside — the Dragon spacecraft. The helmets also feature heads-up displays, which project real-time data on telemetry, temperature and humidity on a transparent display right on the visor.

Another difference is that SpaceX uses the same suits for spacewalks, launch and re-entry, unlike NASA astronauts that have separate spacesuits to conduct work in the vacuum of space.

The Polaris Dawn spacewalk has officially begun, but everyone is still inside the Dragon capsule.

That’s because SpaceX is clocking the start of the spacewalk to when pure oxygen starts flowing into the spacesuits — not when Isaacman first steps into space.

Oxygen flowing into the suits helps purge excess nitrogen from the crew members’ bodies, which lowers the risk of decompression sickness during the spacewalk.

It will take about 20 minutes to complete this purging process.

At 6:12 a.m. ET, oxygen began flowing into the crew members’ spacesuits, officially kicking off the start of the spacewalk.

The Polaris Dawn astronauts exchanged fist bumps and the spacewalk was given a "go" to proceed by mission controllers on the ground.

All four crew members also gave their "go" to continue.

Next, oxygen will flow into the spacesuits and then the Dragon capsule's hatch will be opened.

The Polaris Dawn crew members are completing last-minute checks of their spacesuits and are awaiting the final go-no go poll on whether to proceed.

Things are running slightly behind schedule, but live views inside the capsule show that preparations are ongoing.

The Polaris Dawn flight is designed to test new spacesuits and technologies that could pave the way for future missions to the moon and eventually Mars.

The four-person crew is made up of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman, who funded and took part in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021, is bankrolling the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX.

In addition to the spacewalk, the astronauts will conduct various science experiments during the mission. The Dragon capsule’s orbit will be distant enough for the spacecraft to pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone of high-energy radiation particles trapped by Earth’s magnetosphere.

That will allow scientists to study the effects of space radiation on the crew and the vehicle. The findings could help SpaceX plan missions to the moon and Mars, which would require astronauts to fly through the inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned spaceflights that Isaacman is funding. He has not disclosed the cost of the program or the possible objectives and timing of the other missions.

While the Polaris Dawn crew attempts to make history this morning, another historic milestone was set yesterday: There are currently 19 people in orbit around Earth at the same time, more than ever before.

The record was broken yesterday, when a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched three new crew members to the International Space Station. The 19 people populating Earth's orbit come from five different space expeditions, representing three countries.

Here's who is in orbit at the moment:

Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis from the Polaris Dawn mission.

Expedition 71 members at the International Space Station: NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Oleg Kononenko and Alexander Grebenkin.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who just arrived at the International Space Station to begin a new rotation at the orbiting lab.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were members of the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule and remain at the ISS.

Chinese taikonauts Li Guangsu, Li Cong and Ye Guangfu, who are currently living and working aboard China's Tiangong space station.

A final go-no go poll will be conducted by the crew members before the spacewalk actually begins.

If they opt to proceed, the Dragon capsule will use its thrusters to reposition itself so that the spacecraft’s bottom trunk is facing the sun. SpaceX said this will help stabilize temperatures and communications during the spacewalk.

Once the capsule’s hatch is open, Isaacman will be first out the door. In radio communications on the webcast, he will be referred to by his call sign of “EV 1.” Isaacman will conduct mobility tests in his spacesuit, essentially making sure it can practically and comfortably perform various actions that could be essential on long-duration missions.

After roughly 15 minutes, Isaacman will climb back in to the capsule. Gillis, whose call sign is “EV 2,” will then step out into the vacuum of space and go through the same set of mobility tests, according to SpaceX.

Once both astronauts are back inside, Dragon’s hatch will be closed and the cabin will be re-pressurized. In total, the expedition is expected to last about two hours.

An orbital sunset seen from the SpaceX Dragon capsule ahead of the first private spacewalk performed by the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission this morning.

The four astronauts are now putting on their spacesuits ahead of the spacewalk. A series of leak checks will be performed before the pressure is lowered down to vacuum conditions and the capsule’s hatch is opened.

SpaceX said early this morning that the spacewalk would begin at 5:58 a.m. ET, more than three hours later than was originally announced.

The company did not provide details about what caused the delay.

Final measures to prepare the capsule and the astronauts for the spacewalk began shortly after the crew launched into orbit on Tuesday.

Soon after liftoff from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, the internal pressure of the Crew Dragon spacecraft was slowly lowered while oxygen levels increased incrementally. This standard process, which is also how astronauts on the International Space Station prepare to venture outside of the orbiting lab, helps purge nitrogen from the bloodstream, which lowers the risk of decompression sickness (also known as the “the bends”) during spacewalks.

Decompression sickness is caused by a rapid decrease in a person’s surrounding pressure and can be fatal in severe circumstances. It can also affect scuba or deep-sea divers if they rise to the water’s surface too quickly, without allowing time for nitrogen to be flushed from the body.

The spacewalk will take place while the Crew Dragon capsule is orbiting at an altitude of roughly 450 miles above Earth.

At roughly 5:58 a.m. ET, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will exit the spacecraft into the vacuum of space while attached to an oxygen line. The outing is expected to last around 20 minutes.

Unlike with spacewalks conducted at the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon capsule does not have a pressurized airlock, which means the entire spacecraft will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions. To protect the crew while all of this is happening, all four astronauts will wear and test spacesuits newly designed by SpaceX.

While outside the capsule, Isaacman and Gillis will “perform a series of mobility tests” in their spacesuits before re-entering Dragon, according to SpaceX.

The Polaris Dawn crew is preparing to embark on the first spacewalk ever conducted entirely by civilians.

Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies have ventured into the vacuum of space to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and conduct scientific experiments.