On September 10, SpaceX's Falcon 9 spacecraft successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Dragon spacecraft for the Dawn of the North Star mission: a crew of four private astronauts will board the spacecraft during a five-day trip into Earth's radiation belt and plan to conduct the first commercial spacewalk.
Shortly after launch, the first and second stages of the rocket successfully separated. The first stage of the rocket successfully landed on an unmanned recovery ship in the Atlantic. Twelve minutes after launch, the spacecraft was successfully separated from the rocket, the spacecraft entered orbit, and the Polaris Dawn mission was successfully launched.
In the coming days, the crew will complete their first spacewalk in orbit about 1,400 kilometers above Earth, where the astronauts will also be emitted in SpaceX's newly designed EVA suit.
This space mission is the farthest space trip from the earth by mankind in more than half a century after NASA's Apollo program. The crew will pass through the Van Allen radiation belt, a ring of high-energy particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, and will conduct more than 40 experiments and the first commercial spacewalk. The gradual progress of the mission will demonstrate the capabilities of commercial space companies.
As Musk posted: "It will be an epic feat. In fact, as early as February 2022, the "Polaris Project", to which "Polaris Dawn" belongs, was proposed, but for various technical reasons, the flight has been delayed to this day. Ambitious goals and a long lead time make this new space adventure highly anticipated.
So, what "history-making" missions does Polaris Dawn carry? According to the assumption, what will happen next for Project Polaris? Why do spacewalks matter? Enjoy:
1
The much-anticipated Polaris Dawn
What is the mission of "making history"?
- SpaceX provides the technology, Isaacaman pays the money, and it is a familiar formula
Polaris Dawn is the farthest distance from Earth that humans have reached in more than 50 years since NASA's Apollo program - about 1,400 kilometers of flight orbit.
Musk personally went down to certify the breakthrough of this mission: "This will be the first spacewalk carried out by a commercial company, and it is also the farthest spacewalk from Earth in more than half a century!" ”
The Polaris Dawn mission is expected to fly for 5 days, and the crew is strong. The commander is billionaire Jared Isaacman; The pilots were his longtime collaborator, retired Air Force pilot Scott Poteet; The medical officer and mission specialist are SpaceX employees Anna Menon and Sarah Gilli, respectively.
Member of the crew of the USS Polaris Dawn
As a frequent guest on private space flights, this is not the first time that Commander Jared Isaacman has made a funded and manned space flight. As the commander and initiator of the Inspiration 4 mission, he paid all the expenses with his deep financial resources, and became an important member of the "all-civilian" expedition to space.
At the same time, Jared Isaacman also co-founded the company, which owns the world's largest private jet fighter formation, and has participated in formation air shows, setting the world record for the fastest light jet to circumnavigate the globe. He participated in more than a hundred air shows and dedicated each one to charity.
Pilot Scott Poteet, who has been in the service for 20 years and has flown more than 3,200 hours, is a true demonstration pilot. After completing his career in the Air Force, he served in various positions, such as mission director for the Inspiration 4 project, the "civilian space trip" that Isaacaman invested in.
Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis is SpaceX's Chief Space Operations Engineer, overseeing astronaut training programs, including curriculum and training for NASA and commercial pilots. During the Dragon manned space mission, she had already provided real-time operational support and was also the communicator at the time.
Mission Specialist and Medic Anna Menon is also SpaceX's Chief Space Operations Engineer, overseeing the development of astronaut operations and serving on several Dragon spacecraft missions, including Demo-2, Crew-1, CRS-22, and CRS-23. Notably, before SpaceX, she spent 7 years at NASA, helping to integrate international partner engineers and medical care.
The combination of an all-elite team makes the smooth progress of Polaris Dawn more secure.
- A five-day itinerary full of tasks
According to Isaacman, there will also be a wonderful live broadcast of this mission.
Day 1 ：
The crew will look for the time when the risk of micrometeorite orbital debris is minimal, and in this way, determine the specific launch time of Polaris Dawn to an altitude of 1,400 kilometers. Upon arrival at the 190 km x 1200 km track, the crew will conduct a full inspection.
Isaacman mentioned that the crew will choose to carry out the crossing at the lowest altitude. This is based on the fact that the entire mission passes through the Viet Nam Atlantic anomaly two or three times at high altitudes, so the radiation levels are very high, almost the entire radiation load of the mission. Statistically, that's the equivalent of three months on the ISS.
Day 2:
The crew plans to complete more than 40 experiments and test the extravehicular spacesuit ahead of time in preparation for the upcoming event, the spacewalk.
Day 3:
On the much-anticipated extravehicular day, Commander Isaacman himself will perform the most critical spacewalk, with mission expert Sarah Gillis co-ordinating. Two other crew members were on hand to support the ship.
Traditional manned spacecraft are generally equipped with an airlock cabin, which is equivalent to the transition zone between normal air pressure and vacuum environment, but the spacecraft is not equipped with an airlock, and the spacecraft must be depressurized to a vacuum state before leaving the cabin, and the two crew members who stay in the cabin are equivalent to being in the outer space environment.
The spacewalk, which is expected to last two hours, has been described as "a test and development process" and the goal is to "learn as much as possible about the spacesuit and the operation process in a limited time, and to study the effects of space radiation and space flight on human health."
According to Isaacman, all four crew members have undergone extensive training for spacewalks.
In addition, cameras are installed inside and outside the capsule, and the entire capsule will be broadcast live, so stay tuned.
During a spacewalk, SpaceX's specially designed EVA spacesuit will come in handy. The 3D-printed helmet can cope with the sun's glare, and with a head-up display and camera, it can obtain real-time information such as temperature, pressure and relative humidity of the spacesuit.
Many new types of thermal management textiles and flame retardant materials have also been borrowed into spacesuit designs. You know, these materials have been used in the torso of Falcon rockets and Dragon ships before!
The flight will also feature the first manned operational test of the Dragon spacecraft for interconnected communications via Starlink. NASA is also working on this validation. If successful, it will be possible to reduce communication latency and increase data bandwidth for future manned space missions!
2
"Dawn of the North Star"
Only a third of the "North Star Project".
- From the proposal to the implementation, the pigeon took two and a half years
The mission, titled Polaris Dawn, is actually a third of Jared Isaacman's manned space program, Polaris.
In fact, this plan was proposed on February 14, 2022: SpaceX and Isaacman announced the full launch of the "Polaris Project", with SpaceX contributing technology and Isaacman contributing money to break through the limits of private space flight.
The launch plan, originally scheduled "no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022", was postponed to March 2023, then to mid-2023, and then to April, July and August 2024, due to the design of the EVA spacesuit (which was actually just unveiled in May this year) and technical problems with SpaceX's testing of the laser communication link between satellites.
When the official announcement was made in 2022, the space mission and crew members had already been established. In pigeon after pigeon, the appearance of the "North Star Project" adds a layer of mystery.
To recap, at that time, the "Polaris Program" set up 3 manned space missions, namely:
- 北极星黎明号(Polaris Dawn)
- 北极星2号（Mission II）
- 北极星3号（Mission III）
The Polaris Dawn mission, which was carried out this time, was the first spacewalk. According to the mission plan at that time, this exploration will provide support for subsequent scientific research. The mission will prove the capabilities of commercial space companies while also laying a solid foundation for future space programs.
Polaris Dawn Mission:
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, underpinned the Polaris Dawn mission.
The Dragon and Polaris Dawn crews will remain in orbit for up to five days, flying at higher altitudes than any existing Dragon mission, and will attempt to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown over.
The crew of the Polaris Dawn will conduct spacewalks, support scientific research aimed at advancing human health on Earth and the understanding of human health in future long-term spaceflights, and be the first to test Starlink laser-based communications in space.
Polaris 2 Mission :
Building on Polaris Dawn, the mission will continue to expand the reach of future manned space missions, space communications, and scientific research.
Polaris 3 Mission:
Starship (S20) completes its first manned space flight! - To be the world's first fully reusable transportation system designed to transport crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
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Why is a spacewalk significant?
Spacewalks, which occur in extravehicular activities (EVAs), are activities in space outside the Earth's atmosphere after astronauts leave the spacecraft. Depending on the type of mission, spacewalks can last up to 5-8 hours
Spacewalks can support more important extravehicular operations, including but not limited to: scientific experiments, cable connections, debugging equipment, and repairing spacecraft
Spacewalks may seem like a common occurrence today, but pioneers have risked the dangers of "wandering the galaxy" to challenge and take risks.
Alek·sei Leonov, the first person to walk in space, attempted the first human spacewalk in 1965 by becoming an astronaut on Ascent 2.
At that time, humanity's first extravehicular spacesuit, due to environmental influences, swelled.
In the spacesuit, it was difficult for him to make large movements, and his body temperature also increased, and he was faced with the dilemma of not being able to return to the spacecraft. Even, the ground personnel chose to cut off the signal of Ben in the live broadcast
Leonov could only judge for himself. In order to allow the footline to enter the airtight compartment smoothly and then raise his hand to close the hatch, he chose to risk the lack of oxygen, deflated the spacesuit, plunged headlong into the airtight compartment, and tried his best to close the hatch. In that swollen, hot, soaked spacesuit, there was always a suicide drug.
Fortunately, he resolved the first crisis of Ascent 2 and completed the first human spacewalk in a thrilling way. On the way back to Earth, he experienced the challenges of an automatic landing system failure, a loss of control of the "steering wheel", a departure from the landing site, a failure to separate the orbital module, and a fall into the winter forest to survive in the wilderness.
In addition to the crisis, it is still a crisis.
Rescuers, skiing arrived at the scene
Rescuers arrived skiing, stayed for 1 day, and skied away with him. Having escaped death, he completed the most difficult first spacewalk. It is even called a representative of "this person cannot be taken away in space". Since then, humans have learned their lessons, and have continued to attempt spacewalks, completing numerous extravehicular activities and experiments.
At that time, this technology was mainly used for landing on the moon, but now, space station construction, equipment maintenance, sample collection, and scientific research are all closely dependent on out-of-cabin activities.
At present, astronauts generally need to conduct long-term professional training for spacewalks, and some training modes also make use of virtual reality
Astronaut Yang Yuguang once mentioned: "Spacewalks are high-risk behaviors. "Weightlessness or microgravity conditions are extremely physically demanding for humans. Taking Shenzhou 12 as an example, when the astronauts are ready to leave the capsule, they first wear a "ventilated liquid cooling suit" to cool down through water as coolant; After that, they prepare for radiation shielding, etc., and finally put on a milky white extravehicular spacesuit.
In the vacuum of space, the energy radiated by the sun to the size of one square meter is more than 1,300 watts, and the spacesuit must reflect such a large amount of energy. At the same time, the unknown trajectory of space debris could penetrate the spacesuit, causing loss of pressure and hypoxia. Therefore, although the technical conditions of spacewalks are constantly evolving, the risk of out-of-cabin activities can never be equal to zero.
Musk once mentioned: "There is only a chance that it will happen if you first see the possibility of things." "With every attempt, there is always a chance to arrive. Every arrival means a new departure.
In front of the galaxy, there is no absolute helmsman. Greatness lies in not being willing to be small. From looking up to meeting, the unknown of the universe is worth looking forward to. Every step of reality tells us: embrace the future boldly!
References：
1.https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1825318147974373766
2.https://www.spacex.com/updates/
3. "All civilians" went to space, and one person still won the lottery for nothing by Guoke
4. "Project Polaris" - the next milestone in United States commercial spaceflight by Global Space Events
5. What's the deal with spacewalks? by Global Space Events
6. Man's first commercial spacewalk is imminent! SpaceX confirms the launch in the early hours of next Monday morning, and Musk is about to make history again: an epic feat by qubits
7. The first human spacewalk, behind which is full of dangers and PUBG by Guoke
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