Astronauts face risks on spacewalk

First commercial mission will test new technologies

- MARK COLLEY

Early Thursday morning, two Polaris Dawn astronauts were set to step into the vacuum of space. The Earth suspended below them, they were to use new SpaceX spacesuits for the first time.

It was slated as the first commercial spacewalk ever, funded in part by billionaire Jared Isaacman. And it was to be a risky endeavour, one that would test a number of new technologies as humanity barrels toward a new age in space exploration.

NASA’s Artemis Program is slated to take humans — including a Canadian — back to the moon’s neighbourhood as soon as next year. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has dreams of sending people to Mars in four years. The Polaris Dawn mission is a piece of that grand puzzle.

Only four Canadians have walked in space. Three of them spoke to the Star about what the Polaris Dawn astronauts would be experiencing Thursday when they floated above the Earth.

Astronauts spend years training for a spacewalk.

Steve MacLean, who spent seven hours outside the International Space Station in 2006, began with a basic training course of four to five dives in the water, simulating the weightless conditions of space.