Polaris Dawn spacewalker talks to IE

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September was a massive month for commercial spaceflight. The private Polaris Dawn crew took flight aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Then, on September 12, Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman performed the first spacewalk ever by a non-professional astronaut. Shortly after touching down, Isaacman told Interesting Engineering about the experience.

On a separate note, SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Federal Aviation Administration have had another very public fallout. Meanwhile, NASA is working to take the solar sail revolution to the next level.

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AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SPOTLIGHT

Polaris Dawn was about science, not space tourism

Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman chartered the Polaris Dawn mission as part of his Polaris program, which will culminate with the first crewed launch of SpaceX’s Starship.

Isaacman has now flown to space twice, having also chartered the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in 2021. 

In an interview with Interesting Engineering, Isaacman explained that Crew Dragon’s forward bulkhead Draco thrusters “sound like a percussion band and they are very pleasant” while cruising through space.

The private spacewalker also highlighted the fact that Polaris Dawn was strongly focused on science rather than leisure. “Every objective was supported by data collection, science, and other research to help further humankind’s destiny among the stars,” he explained.

The majority of the Polaris Dawn crew’s time was, in fact, taken up by science experiments. “Putting in a Triggerfish [experimental contact lens] takes probably 30 minutes to activate and configure. So multiply that by 40 experiments,” Isaacman said.

As for how Isaacman felt while peering out into space for the first time during the spacewalk, he said he didn’t have a lot of time to take in the seismic event. “I thought about our potential to be something so much greater than the hardships, suffering and divide we all navigate in our daily lives,” Isaacman told IE. 

“Then I looked away from Earth to go through our suit test matrix and saw the vastness of space with nothing but the visor on my spacesuit separating me from such a threatening environment." 

Ultimately, Isaacman and the Polaris Dawn crew set out to progress human spaceflight. They were the first to use SpaceX’s new EVA spacesuit in space conditions. They were also subjected to large amounts of space radiation, and scientists on Earth will now analyze the effect on their bodies to help future astronauts better navigate the harsh reality of space.

AERO BULLETIN

NASA’s solar sail ambitions and inspirations

NASA recently provided an update on its Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, or ACS3, mission. The US space agency announced on August 29 that its innovative solar sail had fully unfurled. Here are some key facts about the mission and what it could do for the future of spaceflight.

Solar sail technology was inspired by historical figures

In 1607, Johannes Kepler viewed Halley’s Comet for the first time. A year later, he wrote a letter to his friend Galileo Galilei in which he described a vague concept for ships “sailing on sunlight”.

Fast forward to the 1970s and Planetary Society founder Louis Friedman led a NASA effort to send a solar sail to Comet Halley. He gained support from famous science popularizer Carl Sagan. 

NASA’s ACS3 builds on the legacy of LightSail 2

While Friedman’s Comet Halley mission never took off, the Planetary Society made his dreams come true in 2019 with its LightSail 2 mission. 

That mission was the first in history to raise the orbit of a small spacecraft using only the force of sunlight on a lightweight mylar sail. In a 2021 interview with IE, Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye explained that the non-profit organization had shared its findings with NASA.

NASA’s new composite boom technology

NASA’s ACS3 mission aims to advance solar sail technology. The mission is testing innovative composite materials—a combination of materials with different properties—in a new lightweight boom that will allow faster travel.

Could light sails one day take us to another star?

While solar sails are very much in the early development phase, some scientists and organizations have envisioned a highly ambitious future for light sail technology.

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative, for example, aims to train many laser beams on a light sail spacecraft, allowing it to fly at a fifth of the speed of light. To date, funding has been a stumbling block. However, this technology could, in theory, allow a spacecraft to reach our nearest star system within 20 years.