It is one thing to put humans into a vehicle, launch them into space, and return in the vehicle to Earth. It is another to let out all the air in the vehicle while in space, then leave the vehicle to float in space on purpose. It is not something I would expect a private enterprise to do, but SpaceX managed to do just that during the recent Polaris Dawn mission. And they did it with brand new spacesuits, not with spacesuits that are almost as old as me. I was half-expecting them to encounter problems such as minor leaks or a spacesuit ballooning up, but their first spacewalk went off without a hitch.
By Yoo Chung .
Published on 2024-09-12.