Private astronauts on daring trek ahead of historic spacewalk

AFP | Washington

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A private crew set out on an audacious orbital expedition, journeying deeper into the cosmos than any humans in half a century as they prepare for the first ever spacewalk by non-professional astronauts.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, launched early morning from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attained its peak altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) later that day. “Achievement unlocked -- apogee 1,400.7 km,” SpaceX said on X Tuesday night.

That is more than three times farther from Earth than the International Space Station, as their Crew Dragon spaceship navigates through portions of hazardous, high-radiation Van Allen belt during its roughly five-day trek.

Radiation isn’t the only challenge the four-member team faces: their spaceship “will travel repeatedly through the orbital altitudes of over 10 thousand satellites and bits of space debris,” said SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. “No room for error in our calculations.”

The highlight of the voyage is slated for as early as Thursday: the first ever spacewalk by civilians, outfitted in sleek, newly developed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits with headsup displays, helmet cameras and advanced joint mobility systems -- once the orbit is back down to roughly 430 miles.

SpaceX has scheduled the EVA for 0623 GMT on Thursday, with a backup window on Friday at the same time. Since the Crew Dragon capsule lacks an airlock, the entire crew will be exposed to the vacuum of space for around two hours, as two crewmates venture out, in turn, for 15 to 20 minutes each.