The private spacewalk that is the sexiest feature of the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, being facilitated by SpaceX and a billionaire (not that one), looks set to go ahead on 27 August 2024. When the time comes, some (or all) of the crew will step outside of the capsule.

It’s a scary thing to imagine at any time and we’d suspect it’s even scarier to do. Especially if you’re not sure exactly what this operation entails. SpaceX has just shown what will be expected of the astronauts when they enter orbit further out than any human beings since the Apollo program.

Greeting the Polaris Dawn

The @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn mission will be the first crew to perform a spacewalk from Dragon, fly higher in Earth’s orbit than anyone since the Apollo program, test laser-based @Starlink communications, and conduct research to help provide insight on human health during… pic.twitter.com/RW387QWShY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 22, 2024

SpaceX, via Twitter, shared a short video of what the astronauts on board the Crew Dragon will do when they exit the capture while in orbit. If you were expecting complicated tethers and folks bumping around the outside of the spacecraft, think again. It looks more akin to someone getting out of a swimming pool. Even that is bonkers when you’re in a depressurised craft way out in space.

The launch window for the Polaris Dawn mission opens at 03h38 on 27 August (09h38 here in South Africa), with additional windows at 05h23 (11h23 locally) and 07h09 (13h09 locally). If anything prevents the liftoff of Polaris Dawn, the launch will be reattempted on 28 August at the same time(s). The windows are identical on both days. If you’d like to watch it live, it’ll be streamed (of course) on Elon Musk’s X platform on the official SpaceX account.