SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission Paves the Way for First Commercial Spacewalk
When SpaceX launches its Polaris Dawn mission this month, it will fly higher than any manned mission since Apollo — but there’s more to the story.
How do you solve the problem of motion sickness in space – so that astronauts don’t feel “nauseated and possibly vomit” throughout the mission?
How are you New space suit testing To ensure that it works not only in weightlessness, but also in the vacuum of space?
Finally, how would you feel about going into space?
Those are some of the questions the crew of the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission has been focusing on as they prepare for their historic civilian mission — set to launch in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday.
Florida Today interviewed two Polaris Dawn crew members: Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX astronaut trainer, and Anna Menon, who oversees crew operations and works in SpaceX’s mission control center.
They will join billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman (who also piloted the first all-civilian mission to orbit, Inspiration4) and former Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kid” Poteet, who will serve as Polaris Dawn pilot.
In a wide-ranging interview conducted long before the pre-launch quarantine, Gillis and Menon talked about the new SpaceX spacesuits that all four crew members will need to wear during Isaacman’s spacewalk, some of the other experiments the team will conduct in space, how they expect to feel on launch day, and what foods they will bring to orbit.
How did SpaceX test the new spacesuits?
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Q: This is the first time this has happened, as previous SpaceX suits were not designed for use outside of a spacecraft. What kind of training did you receive for the new spacesuits?
GilliesBut what makes this mission so cool is that we were able to create a whole new training component because we’ve never had to train for a spacewalk before. So, obviously, we started with our standard training program – which is what every NASA crew member goes through. Live and fly in the dragon.
Then we looked at the skills we need to train to do a spacewalk. There’s everything from physical movements inside the suit to understanding the environment you’re in and how you move and function.
There are also the mental components that go into facing this challenge as a team and how you work as a crew – and how to make sure you’re really prepared. We’ve looked at all aspects of it.
The SpaceX team was in the process of building a new spacesuit to support this, and instead of going with the traditional method of taking that suit and putting it in the water, which is the analogue that NASA has been using for a while to train astronauts for spacewalks, we didn’t have the luxury of having two suits, one that could be put in the water and one that could be used in dry air.
We were actively working on making suits. So instead, they came up with this brilliant, innovative solution, which is to take our suit, put it in a harness, and then put certain physics models on a crane. And with that, you create a microgravity simulator — where you can compress the entire suit.
We’ve run, you know, almost every scenario that ground simulation supervisors could come up with to challenge us with – all the abort conditions, the termination criteria – so we feel like we’re really prepared to step into this.
Q: When the Dragon hatch opens, you will all be exposed to the vacuum of space. What tests has SpaceX done to ensure the suits work in that environment?
MenonWe know for sure that the suits can handle the pressure there. They’ve been through a lot of intensive testing on the ground here at SpaceX – it’s really incredible with the hardware.
We’ll take these suits and test them in a vacuum chamber in Houston as a final acceptance test. We’ve spent a lot of time stressing the suits at this point.
What is SpaceX’s goal with the new spacesuits?
Q: How do you think SpaceX’s spacesuits will be a game changer in the space industry, especially with the advent of commercial space?MenonYou know, I think this is a cornerstone of some of SpaceX’s long-term ambitions, but also the long-term ambition of human spaceflight. SpaceX envisions a world where human life is multiplanetary – that we will one day put people on Mars.
Human spaceflight efforts are beginning to return humans to the moon. There are so many great goals ahead, and many of these efforts require spacesuits to achieve them. If you’re going to the moon or Mars, you’re going to want to get out of your spaceship and stand on that other surface. And for that, you’re going to need a spacesuit to do it.
I think having additional capabilities there – additional learning – we can all share that learning and learn from each other. It’s good for the future of human spaceflight.
What else is the Polaris Dawn mission focused on?
Q: What experiences or objectives will you participate in during the mission?
MenonWe have about 40 scientific and research experiments that we are doing as part of this mission. So basically, we have a few main objectives for the mission.
This is the high-altitude flight, the first-ever commercial spacewalk, and a test of the Starlink laser communications system for the human Dragon spacecraft.
But fundamentally, every moment between these primary mission objectives, we’re going to be doing science and research while we’re there. And we’re making sure that every minute is used to contribute to long-term human spaceflight efforts and improve people’s lives.
So the science that we’re dealing with spans many different areas, but a lot of it is really trying to help solve the problems that we’re going to need to solve in order to make life multiplanetary.
Take, for example, a handful of experiments dealing with space motion sickness, a problem that affects 60 percent of astronauts when they first encounter microgravity. It makes them feel nauseous, may vomit, and in many cases unable to function for about three days as they get used to the new environment.
If we imagine a world where we send 100 people into space at the same time, we’re going to have 60 people floating around in space vomiting. That’s not going to produce a clean or productive spacecraft. So solving this problem, understanding who gets the reward, and how to mitigate its effects, is going to be critical to our future spaceflight efforts.
Another area of scientific research we do deals with vision problems that astronauts experience when they are in zero gravity for long periods of time. There is a syndrome called spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome.
There has already been some great research on this topic by NASA and others on the International Space Station. But there is still a lot to learn. There is still a lot to be done to understand exactly what mechanisms are causing this.
What is the timeline for the Polaris Dawn mission?
Q: How long will the task take?
GilliesOur mission timeline for our trip is five days. We have about 120 hours of consumables. There’s also a lot of space after that, but really, our projected timeline is about 120 hours. If the weather deteriorates and we need to get home early, we certainly can. But as Anna mentioned, we have a really busy schedule, so hopefully we can see that full time in orbit.
Polaris Dawn Launch Day
Q: What are your expectations for the launch day? What will the launch day be like?
GilliesWe’ll probably spend seven to ten days in Cape Town before launch. We have a week of training, which is a refresher on the launch pad systems and what to expect as we go through launch day.
And we’ll also watch, you know, our stationary rocket launch, and see it as it goes to the pad.
So (there are) some pretty cool pre-launch milestones that we’re going to go through.
By the time we actually got to launch day, we had simulated the launch sequence several times, hoping that there would be no surprises, that it would go smoothly, and that the weather would be good.
I’m very interested in seeing what my feelings are at that moment. I think it’s going to take a long time to process it, and it’s great to finally be able to ride this amazing rocket and spacecraft that the SpaceX team has built over a very long time and tested for a very long time.
I will definitely think of all the engineers who designed, tested and validated the system. I am very excited to get there.
MenonWe’ve heard from people that when they get into the spacecraft it feels like they’re in a simulator — because they’ve trained so many times.
Gillies:That’s the great thing about training – it really prepares you for nominative and non-nominative, which is exactly what you need to do in every situation.
Treats on the Dragon: What to Eat in Space?
Q: Fun question – are there any delicious foods you plan to bring with you?
MenonWell, SpaceX has solved the food problem in a really creative way. They pack us fresh food for a day or so. They put it in a cooler, and the way they keep it cold and fresh is they freeze the coffee. So when the bags of iced coffee melt, we get a chance to drink the coffee, and that keeps the food nicely prepared for us. So things like pizza in space, sandwiches in space, vegetables in space, things like that are very much appreciated.
And then we get more of the camping-like food variety, which we also love and enjoy a lot – things like Clif Bars.
Q: Is there anything about the Polaris Dawn quest you’d like to add?
MenonI believe that the Polaris program and the Polaris Dawn project are the cornerstones of the future of human space exploration and our collective future. But it also seeks to make a difference in the present and the future as well.
We don’t want to ignore the issues we face here on Earth. One way we do that is by continuing to raise money and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Our commander, Jared Isaacman, flew a mission before ours—Inspiration IV—and on that mission he raised over $250 million for St. Jude.
Brooke Edwards is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] Or on X: @Brook of stars.
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