Two non-professional astronauts are about to conduct the first-ever spacewalk from a Crew Dragon spacecraft and also the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
The highly anticipated event is part of the Polaris Dawn mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early on Tuesday.
The spacewalk will see two of the four crew members — Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis — depart the Crew Dragon in newly designed SpaceX spacesuits that could one day be used for missions on the moon and even Mars.
Unlike the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon doesn’t have an airlock, which means the other two crew members — Scott Poteet and Anna Menon — will also have to wear the new spacesuits to protect themselves from the harsh conditions of space.
“Shortly after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol in preparation for their anticipated spacewalk on Thursday,” SpaceX said in a post on social media. “During this time, Dragon’s pressure slowly lowers while oxygen levels inside the cabin increase, helping purge nitrogen from the crew’s bloodstreams. This will help lower the risk of decompression sickness during all spacewalk operations.”
Isaacman and Gillis are set to remain outside the spacecraft for up to 20 minutes each. It’s expected that Isaacman will exit first and then return, with Gillis going next.
The four crew members will also be conducting an array of science experiments during the five-day mission, which has already seen the Dragon take humans farther from Earth since the Apollo missions five decades ago.
How to watch
The Polaris Dawn mission will begin the historic spacewalk at 2:23 a.m. ET on Thursday, September 12 (11:23 p.m. PT on Wednesday night).
SpaceX will live-stream the spacewalk via its social media channel, and you can watch it here.
