On: SpaceX Astronauts Begin Spacewalk, Putting New Spacesuits to Test

[spuz]

Does anyone know if the reason they performed the EVA during the night was to prevent overheating? The crew reported temperatures (presumably of the suit) of 33.8C during the EVAs.

[dotnet00 → spuz]

I think the main factor might've been crew wakefulness.

Since they launched around the same time, I think their body clocks would've been tuned to that time too. They'd want all crew to be at the peak of their alertness in case of any emergency (particularly if they ended up having to deorbit in a hurry), so it might've been a significant factor in the timing.

[spuz → dotnet00]

We're talking a wait of just 45 minutes to do the EVA in daylight so that doesn't sound plausible as a significant reason to do it at night.

[dotnet00 → spuz]

Ah that's a very good point, I was way too focused on the early morning timing and forgot about that.

[pipe01 → spuz]

They oriented the capsule so that the hatch would face away from the sun, so presumably they were already accounting for heating from the sun