(CNN) – A crew of four civilians aboard the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission He opened the hatch of his capsule and made history as the first group of non-governmental astronauts to perform a spacewalk.
SpaceX organized a live webcast of the event, also known as extravehicular activity (EVA), which began at 6:12 a.m. ET.
The entire SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle that powers and protects the crew was depressurized and exposed to the vacuum of space, a dangerous and historic milestone in the Polaris Dawn crew’s five-day journey through Earth orbit. The mission has already broken records, traveling further into space than any human since NASA’s Apollo program concluded more than 50 years ago.
The crew members – including Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments and Polaris Dawn financier; his close friend and former US Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis- had been preparing for this spacewalk since they took flight at 5:23 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
The team slowly underwent what is called a “pre-breathing” process, a step intended to purge their blood of nitrogen to prevent the gas from bubbling – a potentially lethal condition – as they experienced the vacuum of space.
Isaacman emerged from the capsule first shortly before 7 a.m. ET.
He climbed a mobility device, which is a stepladder that SpaceX has dubbed a “skywalker,” to venture into the infinite void and take in the views.
“At home we have a lot of work to do, but from here it seems like a perfect world,” Isaacman said.
Gillis and Isaacman were the only two crew members who managed to exit the spacecraft, and they did so for a combined total of approximately 20 minutes.
Gillis emerged from the capsule about ten minutes after Isaacman returned to his seat. As expected, she spent her time outside strutting around in the spacesuit to test his mobility.
One of SpaceX’s main goals is to develop spacesuits that fit and function more like regular clothing than the restrictive, puffy white suits that have been used in the past during spacewalks.
However, the cabin windows offer the entire crew incredible views of Earth. The Polaris Dawn crew can see a sunrise and sunset about every 106 minutes.
“Honestly, it’s one of my favorite views,” Mennon said. “The sun rises above the horizon and the whole world lights up or falls asleep. And you can witness it hour after hour, it’s beautiful. Our Earth is so beautiful.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson offered his congratulations after the spacewalk in a post in Xformerly known as Twitter.
“Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!” wrote Nelson. “Today’s success represents a giant step for the commercial space industry and @NASA’s long-term goal of building a vibrant American space economy.”
Although the crew previously reached a maximum altitude of more than 1,400 kilometers, the spacewalk occurred while their vehicle was traveling between 190 and 700 kilometers above Earth.
In total, the Crew Dragon capsule spent about two hours exposed to space with the hatch open.
“There is plenty of time for ventilation (or depressurization of the spacecraft) and repressurization,” Isaacman told CNN of the two-hour spacewalk window. “And probably the biggest fear we’ve tried to guard against is a failure to repressurize the vehicle, because then all you have is your oxygen reserves to get you home in about two hours if necessary.”
“So I don’t expect us to have too much time for sightseeing,” Isaacman added.
However, while Isaacman and Gillis were outside the capsule, they focused on demonstrating how their new EVA suits work in space.
EVA suits basically function as spaceships themselves, only they are designed to fit the human body. Unlike the iconic white, padded spacesuits that government astronauts wear when they leave the International Space Station for a spacewalk, SpaceX’s EVA suits do not include a primary life support system, or PLSS, according to Garrett Reisman, a Former NASA astronaut who serves as a consultant for SpaceX.
Essentially, a PLSS is a backpack that allows ISS astronauts to float more freely through space to carry out complex tasks, such as repairing and replacing hardware outside the space station. Instead, the Polaris Dawn crew will receive their life support via long hoses connected to their spacecraft.
Still, SpaceX’s EVA suits are an impressive feat of engineering. The company designed and developed the spacesuits in just two and a half years, specifically for this mission.
The goal was to develop spacesuits that could one day be produced on a large scale, rather than the expensive, custom-made objects currently used by space agencies.
Discussing the vision for the EVA suits in an interview with CNN, Isaacman referenced the broader goal: one day having entire settlements of people living in space.
Isaacman said he discussed that vision with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and they agreed: “We need spacesuits. And, you know, they shouldn’t cost hundreds of millions of dollars. We will need tens of thousands of them someday.”
After the spacewalk, crew members removed their protective spacesuits, rested, enjoyed a meal, and connected with their families.
The crew members also shared a selfie and an image of Earth taken from the capsule. The posts were the first to be transmitted from space to Platform
“Hello Earth: We are very grateful for all the support! Enjoy two recent photos from our mission and stay tuned for our next message. We send them to you from space via a laser beam from Starlink – Polaris Dawn crew,” wrote the team in X.
The Polaris Dawn crew will spend a couple more days in orbit to accomplish the remaining mission objectives.
That includes working on the rest of a list of nearly 40 experiments. Part of that research focuses on addressing the enormous biological challenges that humans face while floating in a spacecraft.
When asked by CNN, many of the crew members said they were very excited about the experiments aimed at gaining a better understanding of space adaptation syndrome, a deeply uncomfortable condition that affects approximately 1 in 2 people that travels in orbit.
Gillis added that one of the experiments the Polaris Dawn crew will perform involves putting on special contact lenses that have pressure transducers (or high-precision measuring instruments). According to Gillis, the lenses will measure how crew members’ eyeballs respond to changes in pressure as they adapt to life swimming in microgravity.
“We affectionately call it ‘the cyborg experiment,’” he said.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft could return to Earth this weekend, possibly in the early hours of Sunday morning, as the Polaris Dawn crew has said they expect their trip to last about five or six days.
