Making History! SpaceX Launches First Civilian Spacewalk Mission | WPN World People News

On the morning of the 10th at 7:00 AM Eastern Time, SpaceX successfully launched the world's first privately-led "Polaris Dawn" spacewalk mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission involves four civilian astronauts embarking on a five-day spaceflight, with a commercial spacewalk scheduled for the third day—marking the first civilian-conducted spacewalk in history.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft was launched atop the Falcon 9 rocket. The four astronauts are billionaire Jared Isaacman, retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Poteet, and two senior engineers from SpaceX, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. This space journey is particularly dangerous as the spacecraft will enter an elliptical Earth orbit, reaching a maximum distance of 1,400 kilometers, making it the farthest space journey since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

A key highlight of this mission is a 20-minute spacewalk by Isaacman and Gillis. Unlike the airlock facilities on the International Space Station (ISS), the Crew Dragon spacecraft will undergo a gradual depressurization, and all astronauts will rely on new space suits for oxygen. Once the spacecraft enters zero gravity, all crew members will wear newly designed space suits from SpaceX to test their performance.

Additionally, the mission will pass through the Van Allen radiation belts, an area filled with high-energy electrons, which poses health risks to astronauts exposed for extended periods. The mission plan has accounted for this risk, and the duration of the spacewalk will be strictly limited. The mission also includes up to 40 different scientific experiments, covering areas such as space communication technologies, human health tests, and the effects of space environments on the human eye.

The Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission represents a significant milestone in civilian space exploration. Previously, only professionally trained astronauts under government programs were able to conduct spacewalks, but this privately executed spacewalk will rewrite the history of space exploration. SpaceX's mission not only demonstrates confidence in its own space technologies but also highlights the boundless potential of future space commercialization.