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[AJUMP23]

Polaris Dawn astronauts successfully perform the first commercial spacewalk

Polaris Dawn astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis have successfully exited the confines of their Crew Dragon vehicle to perform the first ever commercial spacewalk on September 12.

www.engadget.com

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Polaris Dawn astronauts successfully perform the first commercial spacewalk​

The crew members tested SpaceX's new EVA suits with the Earth as their backdrop.​

Polaris Dawn astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis have successfully exited the confines of their Crew Dragon vehicle to perform the first ever commercial spacewalk on September 12. SpaceX and the Polaris crew started preparing for the event at 6:01AM Eastern time, checking that all their gear was in order and putting on the SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits that all four of them have to wear, because opening the Dragon's hatch will expose them to outer space. Pure oxygen was pumped into the suits to check for leaks before all the air was let out of the vehicle and before Isaacman opened the hatch.



A few minutes before 7AM Eastern, Isaacman went through the hatch and exited the vehicle, with the Dragon's camera capturing his silhouette against our planet as the backdrop. He then performed a series of mobility exercises as planned — the whole point of the spacewalk was to test SpaceX's new EVA suits — before going back into the capsule. "Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do," he said as he emerged from the vehicle. "But from here, it looks like a perfect world."



After he went back to his seat, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis geared up for her turn. She had to deal with the hatch seal bulging out a bit, but she was ultimately able to climb out of the hatch and do a series of mobility exercises like Isaacman did. Once she was done, the team closed the hatch and started repressurizing Dragon to equalize the atmosphere inside before checking the cabin for any leaks. By 7:55AM, Dragon's repressurization was complete, marking the completion of today's spacewalk.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Start of a new era.

 

[Vlodril]

Amazing visuals and the godamn balls these people have. They prepare for different problems etc but still.. It was suspenseful just watching this. Now if only the us bureaucracy let the damn starship make faster tries and not tie it down for months at a time.

 

[od-chan]

I know nothing about space and stuff, so what I'm about to say may sound like coming from a 5yr old

I looove this image. We always see space depicted as this almost fantastic mysterious "sea of stars", portrayed in as this "world" that's ours to discover. When it's in fact actually quite literally nothing. An eternity(?) of nothing with some rocks of varying sizes thrown in there once every while. It's not even light or something, it's literally just nothing. Somehow that's fascinating.

 

[Hookshot]

Glad there is a thread on this. It's genuinely a massive moment for Humanity. That a private entity is able to go to space, roll down the windows and stick their heads out without dying is crazy when you think about it.

They also went the furthest out any human has been since the Moon missions earlier in the trip. It's small steps but in a year or two it's not unthinkable to see people doing private Moon orbits, while not just looking out of windows, but poking out of the capsule to take selfies. It might seem like a dumb waste of money to some of you but Space tourism is about to be a proper thing.

 

[DKehoe]

Always cool to see space travel take another step forward.

 

[Hookshot]

Amazing visuals and the godamn balls these people have.

It had no air lock so once the hatch was open all 4 of them were in space, two climbed up for a bit to poke out of it but everyone was exposed to the nothingness of the universe. It's crazy, and they would have been completely fucked if the hatch didn't shut again

 

[Kenpachii]

Man the balls of these people, i wouldn't do it even if they offered me a million bucks.

 

[TehDark]

Unfortunately space isn't real, As much as I used to believe these liars I now know it's not true.

 

[AJUMP23]

Man the balls of these people, i wouldn't do it even if they offered me a million bucks.

The first guy out is a billionaire so he probably funded some of the trip. I guess he figured this is safer than the titanic.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I’m listening to the Elon Musk biography and he wanted to give humanity another option if we were to ever get destroyed or something. They’re one step closer. Crazy how Space X is slowly pushing us there.

 

[EviLore]

Unfortunately space isn't real, As much as I used to believe these liars I now know it's not true.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Unfortunately space isn't real, As much as I used to believe these liars I now know it's not true.

 

[OverHeat]

EviLore next vacation

 

[Robot Carnival]

Planetes is amazing. one of the best soft sci-fi space manga/anime. Moonlight Mile is another one. too bad it went into indefinite hiatus because of political reasons.

 

[EviLore]

EviLore next vacation

I’ll have to launch a GoFundMe, like one of our ex-mods’ Titanic trip...

Planetes is amazing. one of the best soft sci-fi space manga/anime. Moonlight Mile is another one. too bad it went into indefinite hiatus because of political reasons.

Loved Planetes, yeah. First time hearing about Moonlight Mile, though, so I’ll be sure to check it out.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Loved Planetes, yeah. First time hearing about Moonlight Mile, though, so I’ll be sure to check it out.

I highly recommend the manga. the anime only covers a small portion of the early story. the manga was up to volume 23 before it stopped. the author is also the same artist who created Gundam Thunderbolt.

 

[Diddy X]

Earth is where we belong, there is no use in looking outside of it, just a waste of resources to satisfy nonsensical human fantasies.

 

[jason10mm]

I’ll have to launch a GoFundMe, like one of our ex-mods’ Titanic trip...

Loved Planetes, yeah. First time hearing about Moonlight Mile, though, so I’ll be sure to check it out.

Wonder if either of these guys walked that moonlit mile with the crew

I mean, just look at that bedhead hair!!!

 

[Pegasus Actual]

 

[TransTrender]

Friggin rad.
This is a pretty big deal.

 

[clarky]

Unfortunately space isn't real, As much as I used to believe these liars I now know it's not true.

EviLore awww man i wanted to know more..........................................

 

[The Fartist]

Earth is where we belong, there is no use in looking outside of it, just a waste of resources to satisfy nonsensical human fantasies.

 

[Toons]

Pretty amazing.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Oh fudge. Someone has seen Planetes besides me.

 

[newtypepilot]

planetes is a great show.

 

[mitch1971]

Walk? More like a spaceshuffle.

 

[Tams]

Walk? More like a spaceshuffle.

Space meerkats.

Stuck their heads out, turned around a bit, then ducked back in.

 

[Hookshot]

Walk? More like a spaceshuffle.

It was a modified Dragon capsule. It's not like the ISS with hand holds all over the places, if they'd have gone out unclipped and slipped they'd be gone. Yes popping up like a Prairie dog is a bit shit but think of the bigger picture of what it means.

 

[MrA]

people can complain all they want about Elon Musk,
but the stuff he's pushing with Space X is amazing.

 

[jason10mm]

Just imagine if they had done a fly by of the ISS and wrangled one of those stranded astronauts in for the ride home! Pretty sure the capsule they were in was basically a glorified bullet with little to no ability to maneuver but still amazing for a rich guy to risk his life that way when he could be chilling on a megayacht surrounded by his harem.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

I know nothing about space and stuff, so what I'm about to say may sound like coming from a 5yr old

I looove this image. We always see space depicted as this almost fantastic mysterious "sea of stars", portrayed in as this "world" that's ours to discover. When it's in fact actually quite literally nothing. An eternity(?) of nothing with some rocks of varying sizes thrown in there once every while. It's not even light or something, it's literally just nothing. Somehow that's fascinating.

You'd probably see the "sea of light/stars" if you were up there yourself, the camera would have to be very underexposed to pick them up.
As from the words of Al Worden:

I curved around the moon to where no sunlight or Earthshine could reach me. The moon was a deep, solid circle of blackness, and I could only tell where it began by where the stars cut off. In the dark and quiet, I felt like a bird of the night, silently gliding and falling around the moon, never touching. I turned the cabin lights off. There was no end to the stars.

I could see tens, perhaps hundreds of times more stars than the clearest, darkest night on Earth. With no atmosphere to blur their light, I could see them all to the limits of my eyesight. There were so many, I could no longer find constellations. My vision was filled with a blaze of starlight.

 

[ZehDon]

Massive moment. Really incredible to see people making these kinds of strides again.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Unfortunately space isn't real, As much as I used to believe these liars I now know it's not true.

It's sad how Space Threads seem to attract and annihilate accounts, like this...
Also, the Moment Elon gets the first Weed Crops up and going on Mars, I am there.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Earth is where we belong, there is no use in looking outside of it, just a waste of resources to satisfy nonsensical human fantasies.

Getting off of this planet now is essential for not only humanity, but for Earth itself. Staying invites eventual resource wars and environmental disaster.
Humans getting off of Earth will be a net gain for humans, but a huge risk for any aliens in our interstellar vicinity. We are a bunch a of vicious evolved primates. I’ve often wondered if other species out there are as warlike as humans, or if that is just something specific to the human condition.

 

[BlackTron]

Earth is where we belong, there is no use in looking outside of it, just a waste of resources to satisfy nonsensical human fantasies.

The 400 you pay for the command center isn't a waste of resources when it's near 9000 ore deposits, amirite?

 

[Diddy X]

Getting off of this planet now is essential for not only humanity, but for Earth itself. Staying invites eventual resource wars and environmental disaster.
Humans getting off of Earth will be a net gain for humans, but a huge risk for any aliens in our interstellar vicinity. We are a bunch a of vicious evolved primates. I’ve often wondered if other species out there are as warlike as humans, or if that is just something specific to the human condition.

All fantasies bro, we're never gonna meet aliens nor is any of that stuff from movies going to happen, be humble and deal with it.

 

[BlackTron]

All fantasies bro, we're never gonna meet aliens nor is any of that stuff from movies going to happen, be humble and deal with it.

I agree with the thing about resources but he lost me with aliens. Double whammy assuming that if they are there, it's dangerous to them. Uh, yeah, humble check.

 

[calistan]

I looove this image. We always see space depicted as this almost fantastic mysterious "sea of stars", portrayed in as this "world" that's ours to discover. When it's in fact actually quite literally nothing. An eternity(?) of nothing with some rocks of varying sizes thrown in there once every while. It's not even light or something, it's literally just nothing. Somehow that's fascinating.

It depends on what scale you look at it. From the perspective of a person it's vast and empty, but then you look at a galaxy from a long way away and it appears pretty dense.

Then you step back even further and you get a broader view like this, which is an entire cluster of galaxies. And this is just a tiny sample of the universe, it's the same everywhere. So much stuff.

Plus, on the nano scale there's a continuous deluge of particles from space pinging into the earth, or even passing clean through it. And at a somewhat unimaginable scale there's the theory that universes (plural) are constantly inflating and colliding like bubbles in a bath, which is one that really hurts my head.

 

[Tokio Blues]

Planetes is amazing. one of the best soft sci-fi space manga/anime. Moonlight Mile is another one. too bad it went into indefinite hiatus because of political reasons.

Planetes is my favourite Manga by far. It's a perfect ride of emotions.

I didn't see the anime BTW.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Earth is where we belong, there is no use in looking outside of it, just a waste of resources to satisfy nonsensical human fantasies.

Progress is slow and incremental. We may not live to see the day these accomplishments bear fruit for all of humanity, but every step forward gets us closer to it.

 

[jason10mm]

Progress is slow and incremental. We may not live to see the day these accomplishments bear fruit for all of humanity, but every step forward gets us closer to it.

But it is a good point. The cost if trying to colonize Mars or some other solar body is SO HIGH compared to just having folks live in massive sealed domes on earth. It's like the Moon. The allure of trying to reach that fast moving body distracts from likely more useful and easier work in a lagrange point or someplace like that. The notion that "we can just move to mars" is a potentially genocidal fantasy versus dealing with problems directly on earth (forci...err helping countries to stop dumping plastics, for example).

As cool an idea as it is, I don't see us ever getting to even an Expanse level of solar exploration, much less Trek type galactic spread, barring some totally novel propulsion tech.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

But it is a good point. The cost if trying to colonize Mars or some other solar body is SO HIGH compared to just having folks live in massive sealed domes on earth. It's like the Moon. The allure of trying to reach that fast moving body distracts from likely more useful and easier work in a lagrange point or someplace like that. The notion that "we can just move to mars" is a potentially genocidal fantasy versus dealing with problems directly on earth (forci...err helping countries to stop dumping plastics, for example).

As cool an idea as it is, I don't see us ever getting to even an Expanse level of solar exploration, much less Trek type galactic spread, barring some totally novel propulsion tech.

The investment in Space technology represents a fraction of a percent of global GDP. I'm not too concerned with whether or not it fulfills the wildest dreams of its inventors. Innovation in one field facilitates innovation in others. In other words, these advances will prove beneficial to humanity in additional ways, some not yet imagined.

 

[jason10mm]

The investment in Space technology represents a fraction of a percent of global GDP. I'm not too concerned with whether or not it fulfills the wildest dreams of its inventors. Innovation in one field facilitates innovation in others. In other words, these advances will prove beneficial to humanity in additional ways, some not yet imagined.

Yeah, but things like the Apollo program hit 0.4% of GDP, which is an ASTRONOMICAL sum for basically the privilege of bragging rights. To REALLY go for Mars or some other body would be an undertaking making the scale of the pyramids, Versailles, or other giant resource sinks seem like nothing. Then consider the cost of moving humans, at scale, from Earth to Mars. It's almost unfathomable barring some quantum shift in propulsion tech. It's easy to try to compare it to colonial expansion of the New World but that's so many orders of magnitude less difficult (hell, humans spread to oceanic islands practically BY ACCIDENT during storms, it's so easy to do!) that the comparison is potentially a fatal fallacy.

I'm not against space exploration, far from it, but you gotta really look at the inherent and unescapable difficulties that endeavor really poses and separate out the sci-fi fantasy. What SpaceX just accomplished is much closer to THIS than to what actual transplanet travel will need to be...

 

[Wheeljack539]

Space meerkats.

Stuck their heads out, turned around a bit, then ducked back in.

"Winter's gonna last a bit longer this year".

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Yeah, but things like the Apollo program hit 0.4% of GDP, which is an ASTRONOMICAL sum for basically the privilege of bragging rights. To REALLY go for Mars or some other body would be an undertaking making the scale of the pyramids, Versailles, or other giant resource sinks seem like nothing. Then consider the cost of moving humans, at scale, from Earth to Mars. It's almost unfathomable barring some quantum shift in propulsion tech. It's easy to try to compare it to colonial expansion of the New World but that's so many orders of magnitude less difficult (hell, humans spread to oceanic islands practically BY ACCIDENT during storms, it's so easy to do!) that the comparison is potentially a fatal fallacy.

I'm not against space exploration, far from it, but you gotta really look at the inherent and unescapable difficulties that endeavor really poses and separate out the sci-fi fantasy. What SpaceX just accomplished is much closer to THIS than to what actual transplanet travel will need to be...

I think it's gonna remain tough until we bite the bullet and start raising select families in a space station or something. Get some people who space is all they know, positioned in some strategically placed halfway station, rearing children who are raised vocationally for engineering, science, or frontier work, and halve the effort by only having an Earth-to-halfway station crew and then a halfway station to Mars crew. Resources or components could be stored at base, and it's basically a trade route.

Imagine being biologically indistinct from someone like you or I, but having never set foot on Earth. Imagine growing up, doing your classroom studies and looking out the window and seeing the planet in the background. You'd have groups of cabin fever teens daydreaming about how FUCKING CRAZY it would be to be an Earth farmer, or a miner.

 

[jason10mm]

I think it's gonna remain tough until we bite the bullet and start raising select families in a space station or something. Get some people who space is all they know, positioned in some strategically placed halfway station, rearing children who are raised vocationally for engineering, science, or frontier work, and halve the effort by only having an Earth-to-halfway station crew and then a halfway station to Mars crew. Resources or components could be stored at base, and it's basically a trade route.

Imagine being biologically indistinct from someone like you or I, but having never set foot on Earth. Imagine growing up, doing your classroom studies and looking out the window and seeing the planet in the background. You'd have groups of cabin fever teens daydreaming about how FUCKING CRAZY it would be to be an Earth farmer, or a miner.

Unfortunately I think living, much less growing up, in space, outside of something truly massive like an O'Neil cylinder, would be a death sentence. Between radiation, low/no gravity, and persistent risk of contamination from all the toxic shit you can't escape from in such an environment, I doubt you could set up any kind of enduring population in space.

 

[Musashipan]

Cool
I'd do it

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Unfortunately I think living, much less growing up, in space, outside of something truly massive like an O'Neil cylinder, would be a death sentence. Between radiation, low/no gravity, and persistent risk of contamination from all the toxic shit you can't escape from in such an environment, I doubt you could set up any kind of enduring population in space.

Good point, it's a solution to a problem that creates eight more problems. Does make you wonder, though. If you research recent/contemporary human evolution, shit can change (rather) drastically between three-five generations. People in like Nepal have naturally evolved a higher tolerance to high terrain atmosphere/oxygen levels, for instance. I'd be morbidly curious about the results in a crazy "let's make space people," experiment.

The first ten or twenty years up there? Would probably suck badly enough that you'd want to use like a penal colony or something. But after that?! WHO KNOWS THE POSSIBILITIES?!

Additional trivia: I should never become a scientist.

 

[finalflame]

Wonder if either of these guys walked that moonlit mile with the crew

I mean, just look at that bedhead hair!!!

Smash.

Also pretty cool these billionaires got to experience space, but not gonna lie I was hoping for an OceanGate repeat but live.