Get quick for the ultimate holiday snap : SpaceX is hoping to pull out off the first - ever spacewalk with a civilian crowd of space tourist later this yr .
SpaceX hasannouncedplans for the so - yell Polaris Program that will aim to “ manifest new technology , conduct extensive research , and at last culminate in the first flight of SpaceX ’s spaceship with human beings on board . ” Among those determine for the charge is Jared Isaacman , the billionaire who lead thefirst all - private - citizen crewto orbit in 2021 and has sign up for three additional private spaceflight commission with SpaceX.
There ’s no exact date for flack off just yet , but they go for to launch the first commission , Polaris Dawn , no in the first place than the fourth one-fourth of 2022 . The plan is to launch a Dragon capsule onboard a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to reach an orbital cavity higher than any Dragon mission to date . The crew will spend up to five day in scope , during which they will set about to pack out the first - ever commercial spacewalk whereby astronauts leave the ejection seat and “ float ” freely in outer space ( presumptively / hopefully , bind by a tether ) .
On top of this risky feat , the astronauts will participate in a report on the effect of spaceflight on the human body , as well as psychometric test Starlink ’s optical maser - based communicating in blank space . Just as Muskpromisedback in September 2021 after theInspiration4 mission , the Dragon spacecraft will have free WiFi this fourth dimension , too .
Isaacman , who has purchased seats on three further charge , will be joined by Scott “ Kidd ” Poteet , a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel , and two SpaceX employees , Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon . The New York Timesreports that Isaacman has declined to disclose how much he is paying for any of the flights , but he said they will rear money for St. Jude Children ’s Research Hospital in Tennessee , just like the first all - civilian fighting didin September 2021 .
There have been hundreds of spacewalks since Soviet spaceman Aleksey Leonov was launched into Earth orbital cavity and exited his ballistic capsule , becoming the first homo to walk in space in March 1965.As of February 15 , 2022 , there have been246 spacewalksoutside of the International Space Station , according to NASA , although there have been numerous spacewalks carried out from other space stations and spacecraft .
However , all of these unfearing ventures have been carry out by professional and well - take astronaut . If SpaceX ’s civilian spacewalk is a success , then it mark yet another sheer step of progress for quad touristry and an insurer ’s incubus .
