SpaceX's inaugural commercial spacewalk and the first EVA using its spacesuits has taken place, almost eclipsing yesterday's altitude record.

The four astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission completed a pre-breathe process before donning their suits for the depressurization of the Crew Dragon capsule. The commander, Jared Isaacman, was the first of two astronauts to venture outside the capsule after a few tugs on the spacecraft's hatch to open it.

While gripping handrails on the nose of the capsule, Isaacman performed mobility checks of SpaceX's EVA suit, which had inflated somewhat during the depressurization process but was still far less bulky than the spacesuits used by Space Shuttle and Apollo astronauts.

Suit inflation has long been an issue for the space program. The first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov in 1965, could not return to his Voskhod capsule after his spacesuit inflated. Leonov was forced to open a valve to bleed off some pressure in order to return to the relative safety of the Voskhod's airlock.

The decades since have seen huge improvements, but Isaacman's stiff movements indicate there is still more to be done. That said, the difference between the suit generations was marked.

Isaacman was outside the spacecraft for just over ten minutes before returning so that the second spacewalker, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, could venture outside to look at the Earth and repeat the mobility tests.

Gillis also noted several bulges in the hatch seal as she floated outside, which she pushed back into place. She remained outside for ten minutes or so, before returning via the nose of the Crew Dragon capsule.

On her way back into the capsule, Gillis reseated parts of the seal again before the hatch was closed and the spacecraft repressurized.

As well as being the first commercial spacewalk, which was notably more cautious than that of Leonov and the US's first spacewalker, Ed White, the Polaris Dawn mission also reached an altitude of 1,400 km on September 11. The orbit was the highest since Gemini 11's in 1966 and was reduced to 700 km for the spacewalk. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/12/polaris_dawn_eva/