The Earth served as the backdrop for the crew members as they tested the new EVA suits that SpaceX had developed
On September 12, astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis of the Polaris Dawn spacecraft successfully expelled themselves from the constraints of their Crew Dragon vehicle in order to carry out the very first commercial spacewalk there has ever been. At 6:01 a.m. Eastern time, SpaceX and the crew of the Polaris began preparing for the event. They made sure that all of their equipment was in order and put on the extravehicular activity (EVA) suits that SpaceX requires all four of them to wear. This is because opening the hatch of the Dragon will expose them to the environment of deep space. Before Isaacman opened the hatch and before all of the air was released from the vehicle, pure oxygen was pumped into the suits to check for any leaks that might have occurred along the way.
First view of Dragon's forward hatch open pic.twitter.com/2KpzA2ILfq
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024
A few minutes before seven o’clock in the morning Eastern time, Isaacman stepped through the hatch and exited the vehicle. The camera on the Dragon captured his silhouette against the backdrop of our world. After that, he went back into the capsule and carried out a series of mobility exercises as originally planned. The purpose of the spacewalk was to test SpaceX’s new EVA suits, hence the entire purpose of the spacewalk was to test them. As soon as he stepped out of the vehicle, he made the following statement: “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do.” “But from here, it looks like a perfect world.”
Commander @rookisaacman conducting suit mobility tests while Dragon flies between Australia and Antarctica pic.twitter.com/yj3vFOTNzQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024
Immediately upon his return to his seat, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis prepared herself for her next shift. She had to cope with the hatch seal protruding out a little bit, but in the end, she was able to climb out of the hatch and perform a series of mobility exercises just like Isaacman did. After she had finished, the crew shut the hatch and began repressurizing Dragon in order to bring the atmosphere inside to a more even level. After that, they checked the cabin to see if there were any leaks. By 7:55 in the morning, the repressurization of Dragon had been finished, which signified the conclusion of today’s spacewalk.