Mikhail Kotov — about the first private spacewalk and its features
Two crew members of the Polaris Dawn mission made the first ever private spacewalk yesterday, September 12. Businessman Jared Isaacman and engineer Sarah Gillis in SpaceX spacesuits took turns partially leaving the Crew Dragon spacecraft for several minutes.
What does it mean in part, can this be considered a full-fledged extravehicular activity or space tourism, will this event affect the global space industry and how have the upgraded spacesuits from SpaceX performed?
It's complicated
Basically, the Polaris Dawn mission is not easy to define unambiguously. On the one hand, this is a kind of space tourism, which is paid for by Jared Isaacman, an American billionaire. On the other hand, medical and technical experiments are among the goals of the mission. For example, crew members Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are SpaceX's leading space operations engineers.
There was also a place for charity here. As part of the Polaris Dawn expedition, it is planned to raise funds for the St. Petersburg Children's Research Hospital. Jude is in Memphis, and to raise public awareness of her work. So, the crew members are wearing jackets with drawings of the clinic's patients.
As a result, I think the definition of the organizers themselves best reflects the essence: Polaris Dawn is the first commercial research mission.
A place for records
The Polaris Dawn expedition has already managed to set one space record. On September 11, almost immediately after launch, the Crew Dragon spacecraft with its crew moved 1,400 km from Earth. This became the highest altitude for manned spacecraft after the Apollo missions, which ended in 1972. The spacecraft made only a few turns in such an orbit in order to reduce the exposure time to cosmic radiation, from which astronauts at lower altitudes are protected by the Earth's magnetic field.
The crew unwittingly became a participant in setting another record. After the Russian Soyuz MS-26 manned spacecraft delivered a three—person crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 11 — two Roscosmos cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut for a shift change - 19 people were in space at the same time. Three on the Chinese Tiangong orbital station, 12 on the ISS (including two American Starliner CST-100 astronauts who could not return to Earth on time) and four participants in the Polaris Dawn mission.
The records or innovations of this expedition can also include the first work of a new version of the spacesuit SpaceX, created specifically for spacewalks.
A way out for everyone?
Before getting into outer space on the ISS, you need to go through special airlock compartments. In them, astronauts put on spacesuits, undergo a pressure reduction preparation procedure, and switch to breathing pure oxygen (for American spacesuits). Only in these locks the pressure is reduced as much as possible and depressurization occurs.
But SpaceX decided not to make such airlocks, but chose the simplest solution — to depressurize the entire ship, go into space directly from the docking hatch, using special railings installed for this mission. Such solutions were used at the beginning of the space age. For example, this is how the Gemini 4 crew went into outer space in June 1965.
At the same time, for safety reasons, SpaceX decided to follow the most conservative path instead of a full—fledged spacewalk for crew members - work outside the ship was carried out according to the "stand-up" option. This term refers to a partial exit outside the ship, when the astronaut only leans out of the hatch, like a chick from a nest. The usual extravehicular activity is called EVA (Extravehicular activity), but this output is half SEVA (stand-up EVA).
On September 12, two people looked out into space. First, the crew commander Jared Isaacman and then Sarah Gillis. Each got 8 minutes. space, during which the astronauts held on to the handrails, reminding people who still can not decide to jump into cold water from wooden bridges. In total, such a spacewalk (together with the preparation procedure) took just over 100 minutes.
Commercial space break
Curiously, judging by the poses of the astronauts, SpaceX spacesuits are still poorly adapted for outer space. Internal pressure and the lack of special hinges turned them into well-inflated balls, forcing them to keep their hands in an unnatural position all the time. This was especially evident in Jared Isaacman, who kept his left arm constantly turned towards himself.
So, I think SpaceX has lied a little — it is unlikely that by now spacesuits can be called full-fledged devices for working in outer space. That the Russian Orlan-ISS, the American Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) and the Chinese Feitian are the most complex technological devices worth millions of dollars. In the case of the Americans, the cost of the suit exceeds $100 million.
There is one apt expression: A spacesuit for outer space is a miniature spaceship. It has a separate life support system, oxygen regeneration system, cooling system, communication with the ship and many, many more things. At the same time, most systems have redundancy in case of failure. Yes, spacesuits are bulky, weigh more than 100 kg and stand like a cast-iron bridge, but they allow astronauts to work in outer space for up to 9 hours without an oxygen hose. It is to work, not just to go out.
The current SpaceX spacesuit does not seem to be able to do all this. Even the internal cooling system was solved in it by simply increasing the oxygen supply. By the way, according to experts, such a solution does not provide sufficient cooling during serious use. However, the exit on September 12 was held in the shadow of the Earth, so there was no question of cooling in practical application.
What was all this done for? I think, in many ways, to show SpaceX's capabilities in creating spacesuits. Currently, NASA is just continuing a much-delayed transition from the old type of spacesuits for outer space, and the contract for its development stretches far beyond a billion dollars. Despite the flaws, SpaceX has a very strong argument to offer itself as the main developer.
There is movement — there is no progress
What impact will the Polaris Dawn mission have on the global space industry? Undoubtedly, this is a step forward and a very good presentation of what modern private commercial manned space exploration can do. Flights into orbit with an apogee of 1,400 km, a safe spacewalk, albeit made according to patterns tested half a century ago. All of this somehow leads to serious achievements.
However, they are still unlikely to have much impact on space tourism or cosmonautics in general, at least directly. Do not expect any large queue of tourists eager to give $50 million for a few days in orbit.
And that's not Elon Musk's task at all. For him, Polaris Dawn is a way to test the capabilities of Crew Dragon, new spacesuits, the use of the Starlink system for space communications and much more. And if it turns out to be combined with commercial missions and charity, it is an additional plus, not a minus.
There is simply no point in comparing such flights with the work in orbit of professional astronauts who have been training for years, who are able to work 9 hours in outer space and live in orbit for a year without interruption. These are too different worlds.
