Polaris Dawn is Away, Sending Another Crew Into Orbit to Perform the First Private Spacewalk

We’ve officially entered a new era of private spaceflight. Yesterday, the crew of Polaris Dawn, a privately funded mission managed by SpaceX, officially performed the first private extra-vehicular activity, commonly known as a spacewalk. The spacewalk was a success, along with the rest of the mission so far. But it’s attracted detractors as well as supporters. Let’s take a look at the mission objectives and why some pundits are opposed to it.

There are two main “firsts” for the Polaris Dawn flight, which is the first in a series of private space missions that could include a third mission that would make the first crewed use of SpaceX’s massive Starship launcher. The most talked-about “first” of the mission was a spacewalk that mission commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis took part in yesterday morning. They utilized SpaceX’s newly designed, more mobile EVA suits, which marks a clear departure from the previous bulky suit iterations.

Another first is that this crew is the farthest any private space passengers have ever been from Earth. In fact, they are farther away from Earth than anyone since to Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s. Their list of things to do so far away from home includes monitoring 36 scientific experiments ranging from monitoring bone health to how to control motion sickness during spaceflight.

But the mission has attracted its share of detractors too. Some of the most well-reasoned include experts quoted in Al-Jazeera that SpaceX might be violating a clause in the Outer Space Treaty that requires governments to be responsible for the health and safety of their missions in space, even if the mission is run by a non-governmental agency. NASA has very clearly not contracted for the safety of the mission once it is in space. However it gave permission for the rocket launch that got them there, especially since it launched from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.

Space policy experts argue that, since this is an entirely privately funded mission, it is in itself a violation of the Outer Space Treaty. They might be right, but an alternative interpretation is that the treaty, which was signed in early 1967, might be out of date for the more modern world of private spaceflight.

A less well-reasoned line of argument against the missions is the complaint that billionaires, which include the mission commander among their number, are simply blowing the Earth’s resources on their own pet projects. This line of reasoning is supported by the fact that the missions is supported by Doritos, who supplied a specially designed chip that wouldn’t get cheese dust everywhere inside the Dragon capsule the astronauts are using.

But it is also off-set by the fact the mission is donating much of its income (admittedly some of which is derived from merchandise sales) to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, to help kids fight cancer. Whether or not you agree with the motivations behind the mission, it doesn’t seem that anyone will get upset about trying to help kids with cancer.

And noone can take away the mission’s achievements so far. Of particular note is that the two female crew members – Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon – are now officially the women that have been the farthest away from the Earth ever. With the launch and spacewalk a success, the final real test of the mission will be its return. Given that Dragon has successfully returned to Earth dozens of times at this point, there’s a good chance that part will be successful too. And then humanity will have the opportunity to hope for, or complain about, the Polaris’ next step in private space flight.

Learn More:
Polaris Program – Polaris Dawn Successfully Launches to Earth’s Orbit and Begins Five-Day Mission 
UT – See a First-Person View of the First Private Spacewalk
UT – Civilian Astronauts are Going to try Spacewalking From a Crew Dragon Capsule
UT – NASA and SpaceX Will Study Low-Cost Plan to Give Hubble a Boost

Lead Image:
Shot of the curvature of the Earth from the Polaris Dawn mission.
Credit – Polaris Program

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