Polaris Dawn astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis successfully ventured out of the confines of their Crew Dragon vehicle to perform the first-ever commercial spacewalk on Sept. 12.
The SpaceX and Polaris crews began preparing for the event at 6:01 a.m. Eastern time, checking that all their belongings were in order and putting on the SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits that all four of them would wear as they opened Dragon’s hatch to take them into outer space.
Pure oxygen was pumped into the suits to expel all the air from the vehicle and check for leaks before Isaacman opened the hatch.
A few minutes before 7 a.m. Eastern time, Isaacman passed through the hatch and exited the vehicle, with Dragon’s camera capturing his image in front of our planet as the backdrop.
They then performed a series of mobility exercises as planned — the whole purpose of the spacewalk was to test SpaceX’s new EVA suits — before heading back to the capsule. “Back home, we all have a lot of work to do,” he said as he exited the vehicle. “But from here, it looks like a perfect world.”
After heading back to her seat, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis geared up for her turn. She had to deal with the hatch seal coming out a bit, but she was eventually able to climb out of the hatch and perform a series of mobility exercises, just like Isaacman.
Once she’s done, the team closes the hatch and begins re-pressurizing Dragon to equalize the atmosphere inside before checking for any leaks in the cabin. By 7:55 a.m., Dragon’s re-pressurization was complete, signaling the completion of today’s spacewalk.
Gather enough Star Trek fans in a room and the conversation inevitably turns to which of the series’ cinematic outings is the worst. The general consensus is that The Final Frontier, Insurrection, and Nemesis are fighting for the undeserved trophy.
Each film has a small army of fans who will defend the campy excess, daring, and tone of each entry. (I’m a stickler for watching The Final Frontier every five years, mostly to enjoy Jerry Goldsmith’s score.) Thankfully, all such discussions will be put to rest forever when Star Trek: Section 31 debuts on Paramount+ on January 24, 2024.
The name Star Trek is the worst thing to remember.
Star Trek: Section 31 is a TV streaming movie that focuses on Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) after her departure from Star Trek: Discovery. It was originally greenlit as a series in 2019, but for a variety of reasons, it languished in development hell until 2022. In the interim, showrunners Bo Yeon Kim and Erica Lippoldt worked on the idea in collaboration with credited screenwriter Craig Sweeney.
Director Olatunde Osunsanmi told SFX Magazine (via TrekMovie) that Sweeney would eventually write (and rewrite) the project seven times, first as a TV series, then as a film. Trek chief Alex Kurtzman was eager to begin production to capitalize on Yeoh’s 2022 Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere All at Once.