Countdown to the first human commercial spacewalk, SpaceX spacecraft scheduled to launch on Tuesday

This Tuesday may witness a historic moment. Elon Musk's space exploration technology company SpaceX plans to launch a manned spacecraft on that day, carrying out the first-ever commercial spacewalk mission in human history.

According to the schedule released on the SpaceX official website, the company plans to launch the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:38 am Eastern Time on Tuesday, August 27. The crew, codenamed Crew North Star Dawn, will be sent into space to carry out the mission. There are two more launch opportunities within four hours, scheduled for 5:23 am and 7:09 am Eastern Time on Tuesday. If the mission is delayed, SpaceX has three backup launch opportunities on Wednesday, August 28, at the same times as on Tuesday.

The image above from SpaceX shows the Falcon 9 rocket for the Crew North Star Dawn mission standing tall on the launch pad in the twilight.

Some media outlets have previously reported that SpaceX's Crew North Star Dawn mission will last for five days, with the core focus being the spacewalk. While spacewalks are a routine task for NASA astronauts, this will be the first time a private company attempts such a spacewalk. This mission will also set a record by allowing astronauts to reach an orbit 1,400 kilometers above Earth, with the elliptical orbit ranging from 190 kilometers at its closest point to 1,400 kilometers at its farthest, making it the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth since the end of the Apollo moon landing program in 1972.

On August 19, Musk referred to this mission as an "epic feat" and "early pioneers of the interstellar era." If the project progresses smoothly, in the future, relying on related technologies, hundreds of people could be sent to Earth's orbit, the moon, and even Mars.

SpaceX stated that the Dragon spacecraft and the astronauts on board will strive to reach the highest orbit around Earth for human spaceflight since the Apollo program. The commercial astronauts participating in the flight will conduct extravehicular activities (EVA) for the first time wearing SpaceX-developed spacesuits. They will also carry out 36 research experiments involving 31 collaborating institutions aimed at promoting human health on Earth and during long-term space flights, as well as testing Starlink laser communication in space.

Public information indicates that the Crew North Star Dawn mission crew consists of four members. Among them, mission commander Jared Isaacman is the founder and CEO of the electronic payment company Shift4, as well as the mission's sponsor. With over 6,000 hours of total flight time in high-performance aircraft, he participated in SpaceX's Inspiration4 space mission in 2021 and served as the commander. Following the Inspiration4 mission, he purchased three space travel flights under the SpaceX Polaris program, with Crew North Star Dawn being the first flight. Isaacman declined to disclose how much he spent on this flight, but estimates from outside sources exceed $100 million The other three members of the crew - mission pilot Kidd Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon are all participating in a human spaceflight mission for the first time.

Gillis and Menon are engineers at SpaceX, marking the first time SpaceX employees have become crew members of a manned space mission. Gillis is the Chief Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX responsible for astronaut training, and previously served as a trainer for the Inspiration4 mission. Menon is the Chief Operations Engineer at SpaceX responsible for crew operations development, and previously served as a flight controller for the company's Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions.

Poteet is a friend of Isaacman and a retired Lieutenant Colonel who served in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot for 20 years, accumulating over 3200 hours of jet aircraft flying experience.

As planned, on the third day of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft's spaceflight, Isaacman and Gillis will exit the hatch for a spacewalk each, lasting approximately 15 to 20 minutes. While only the two of them will be conducting the spacewalks, all crew members will be wearing SpaceX-developed extravehicular suits, as the entire interior of the Dragon spacecraft will be exposed to the vacuum of space for operations. The entire process, from venting the spacecraft's air to resealing it, will take about two hours.

If the spacecraft successfully reaches an altitude of 1400 kilometers from Earth in the first stage of the flight, it will not only set a record for the farthest distance astronauts have flown into space since the Apollo moon landing program, but also make Gillis and Menon the women who have flown the farthest distance from Earth.

The image above from SpaceX shows the four crew members of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, from left to right: Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman, and Sarah Gillis