A private space mission aiming to complete the first-ever civilian spacewalk is expected to launch this week. SpaceX said it is targeting a Falcon 9 rocket launch at 3:38 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Aug. 27, that will carry the Polaris Dawn crew into orbit. Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, Polaris Dawn plans to send its crew of four private citizens as far as 870 miles from Earth — farther than any human has traveled since the Apollo program. The spacewalk, in which two crew members will step outside the SpaceX Dragon capsule, will take place 435 miles above Earth.
The Polaris crew includes Shift4 CEO Dawn Isaacman as commander, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kid” Poteet as pilot, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon as mission specialists. Menon will serve as medical officer. The mission is expected to last about five days.
While only two crew members will leave the spacecraft during the flight, everyone will be exposed to the vacuum of space when the hatch opens—the Dragon capsule has no air chamber. It will be a crucial test of SpaceX’s new spacesuits, which the entire Polaris Dawn crew will have to wear to stay safe. In an interview with Menon said before the mission that the suits had undergone extensive testing on Earth and he was confident in their performance. “We know very well that the suits can handle the pressure there,” he said, adding that the team had “spent a lot of time stressing the suits at this point.”
Polaris Dawn will also test Starlink laser-based communications in space for the first time, and collect data to support research into the effects of spaceflight on human health. The mission follows several years of preparation and is the first of three planned Polaris spaceflights.
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