Civilian tourists successfully walk in void of space; SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission makes history

FLORIDA: For the first time in history, civilian tourists have stepped into the void of space. Jared Isaacman (American entrepreneur) and Sarah Gillis (SpaceX engineer) of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission made history by walking in space 700 km from Earth.

Co-passengers Scott Poteet(former U.S. Air Force pilot) and Anna Menon (SpaceX engineer) controlled the Crew Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX had released the footage of the spacewalk live. The spacewalk by private individuals is a huge step towards future space tourism.

The spacecraft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. After a five-day mission, the spacecraft will land in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman is the sponsor of the mission. The travellers will also conduct 36 experiments, including testing SpaceX's Starlink Internet's laser communication technology in space.

3.42 pm: Launch of spacewalk mission (delayed by 4 hours)

4.18 pm: Jared Isaacman comes out

4:34 pm: Jared gets back in. Sarah Gillis out

4:44 pm: Sarah gets back in. The door of the spacecraft closed.

Dangerous mission

The Crew Dragon spacecraft does not have an airlock. When the gate is opened, space voids will be filled inside the spacecraft. This is dangerous for tourists. To avoid this, the gate was opened after wearing a space suit and reducing the pressure on the spacecraft to the same level as that of space. The tourists got back in and closed the door and adjusted the pressure.

Spacesuit to save lives

The spacewalk was also an experiment of the spacesuit developed by SpaceX. This is a flexible suit that anyone can wear. SpaceX, which envisages a human colony on the Moon and a township on Mars, developed the suit in anticipation of that. Thousands of space suits will be required on that day. The suit that is resistant to extreme heat is a 'cloth shield'. A 3D printed helmet is also part of the suit. The suit has provisions for life saving, communication and security.

Historic achievement

Launched on Mars at 2.53 pm Indian time, The Polaris Dawn reached an orbit 1,400.7 km away from Earth 15 hours later (this is the first time tourists are coming this far since NASA's Apollo mission half a century ago). After circling the Earth six times, the spacecraft was lowered to 700 km.