Get ready for the ultimate holiday snap: SpaceX is hoping to pull off the first-ever spacewalk with a civilian crew of space tourists later this year.
SpaceX has announced plans for the so-called Polaris Program that will aim to “demonstrate new technologies, conduct extensive research, and ultimately culminate in the first flight of SpaceX’s Starship with humans on board.” Among those set for the mission is Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who led the first all-private-citizen crew to orbit in 2021 and has signed up for three additional private spaceflight missions with SpaceX.
There’s no exact date for blast off just yet, but they hope to launch the first mission, Polaris Dawn, no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022. The plan is to launch a Dragon capsule onboard a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to reach an orbit higher than any Dragon mission to date. The crew will spend up to five days in orbit, during which they will attempt to carry out the first-ever commercial spacewalk whereby astronauts leave the capsule and “float” freely in space (presumably/hopefully, attached by a tether).
On top of this risky feat, the astronauts will participate in a study on the effect of spaceflight on the human body, as well as test Starlink’s laser-based communications in space. Just as Musk promised back in September 2021 after the Inspiration4 mission, the Dragon spacecraft will have free WiFi this time, too.
Isaacman, who has purchased seats on three further missions, will be joined by Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, and two SpaceX employees, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. The New York Times reports that Isaacman has declined to disclose how much he is paying for any of the flights, but he said they will raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, just like the first all-civilian fight did in September 2021.
There have been hundreds of spacewalks since Soviet cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov was launched into Earth orbit and exited his spacecraft, becoming the first human to walk in space in March 1965. As of February 15, 2022, there have been 246 spacewalks outside of the International Space Station, according to NASA, although there have been numerous spacewalks carried out from other space stations and spacecraft.
However, all of these brave ventures have been carried out by professional and well-trained astronauts. If SpaceX's civilian spacewalk is a success, then it marks yet another bold step of progress for space tourism and an insurer's nightmare.
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