SPACEWALK (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: A spaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida, carrying American billionaire Jared Isaacman and three others into orbit to attempt the world's first private spacewalk.

Spacewalk

• About: A spacewalk, also known as an Extravehicular Activity (EVA), is an activity performed by astronauts outside their spacecraft while in space.
• The First Spacewalk: It was carried out by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965, during the Space Race between the US and the USSR. His walk lasted 10 minutes.
• Modern Spacewalks: It typically take place outside the International Space Station (ISS) and can last between five to eight hours.
• Purposes: Spacewalks are conducted for various reasons, such as conducting scientific experiments, testing equipment, and repairing satellites or spacecraft.
• Spacesuits and Safety Tethers: During a spacewalk, astronauts wear spacesuits and use safety tethers, attaching one end to themselves and the other to the spacecraft, to prevent floating away.
• SAFER for Movement in Space: Astronauts can also use SAFER (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue), a backpack with jet thrusters controlled by a joystick, to navigate in space during a spacewalk.

Polaris Down

• About: It is the first of three testing and development missions under the Polaris Program, which will be jointly executed by Isaacman and Elon Musk's SpaceX. 
• Objective: The program aims to develop new technologies that could be used to send people to Mars some day.
• It is five day program.

Objective of the Mission

• To travel in SpaceX's Dragon capsule to reach a maximum altitude of about 1,400 km from Earth, surpassing NASA's Gemini XI mission record of 1,372 km from 1966.
• At this altitude, the Polaris Dawn mission will enter the inner band of the Van Allen radiation belts, which begins around 1,000 km. This region is highly radioactive.
• After reaching the maximum altitude, the capsule will descend to a lower orbit for the remainder of the mission, which includes a scheduled spacewalk.
• The main objective of the spacewalk is to test SpaceX's newly developed EVA spacesuits. These suits feature cameras, heads-up displays, and improved thermal management.