SpaceX - Polaris Dawn - Deorbit Burn & Splashdown - Space Affairs Live

The SpaceX Dragon “Resilience“ is scheduled to take home the crew of Polaris Dawn on September 15, 2024. Splashdown time is expected at 3:36 a.m. EDT, 0736 UTC, 09:36 CEST. After a deorbit burn, the Crew-Dragon enters Earth’s atmosphere and will break down from 28,000 km/h to approximately 350 km/h until the Drogue Chutes are opened. After a while, the central parachute system assists the capsule in making a splashdown off the coast of Florida, slowing down the capsule to 25,7 km/h., where the salvage vessels and teams by SpaceX are waiting for them. This will be the first human spaceflight for Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon. Mission Commander Jared Isaacman previously flew to space as commander of Inspiration4. On Thursday, September 12 at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew completed the first-ever spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 732 km above the Earth’s surface. The crew began preparations for the spacewalk shortly after liftoff. They went through a two-day pre-breathe process designed to prevent decompression sickness by slowly acclimating the crew to lower pressures while slowly increasing oxygen levels within the spacecraft’s cabin. Once complete, the crew began preparations for the spacewalk, which included donning their EVA suits, completing suit leak checks, and venting Dragon down to vacuum. After opening the hatch, the Polaris Dawn crew became the first four astronauts to be simultaneously exposed to the space vacuum. Over the next approximately 20 minutes, Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis each exited the vehicle and completed a series of tests designed to evaluate the suit’s mobility, thermal systems, and the Dragon mobility aid “Skywalker” before returning to the cabin and closing the hatch. Mission Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon monitored vital support systems throughout the operation. Once the hatch was closed, Dragon was re-pressurized, cabin oxygen and pressure levels were confirmed, and the crew could remove their EVA suits. This officially completed the suit testing alongside the first commercial spacewalk and the first EVA from a Dragon spacecraft.