A billionaire and his three-member crew hope to make history as they prepare to blast off into space on a mission set to include the first-ever civilian spacewalk.
the Polaris Dawn The team will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, with a Falcon 9 rocket providing lift. The launch is scheduled for 3:38 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Aug. 27. If SpaceX needs to delay the launch, the company will have to move the launch to a later date. He said Its website lists two backup times for that morning, one at 5:23 a.m. and the other at 7:09 a.m. If a launch during those times is impossible, it can be launched the next morning.
The launch will be streamed live starting 3.5 hours before liftoff on SpaceX. Websiteand across X.
If the Polaris Dawn mission goes as planned, the Crew Dragon capsule is expected to reach a maximum orbit of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) above Earth. This would not only represent the highest altitude a Dragon capsule has ever reached, but would also set a new record for the highest orbital apex around Earth. The current record, held by Gemini 11 in 1966, is a taskThe Moon is about 853 miles (1,373 kilometers) across. While the Apollo missions traveled much farther to reach the Moon, they did not reach such high altitudes as they orbited the Earth.
The crew plans to stay in orbit for up to five days, during which they will conduct more than 30 studies and research experiments. These include collecting data on radiation conditions in space and conducting several experiments related to human survival in space. For the central part of the mission, the capsule will lower its orbit to 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth, where two of the four crew members will participate in the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens. Previously, all spacewalks have been conducted by astronauts from government space agencies.
If all goes well, the spacewalk will be just one of several firsts. Polaris Dawn will include the inaugural deployment of SpaceX’s extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit. Since the Crew Dragon capsule has no air chamber, all four crew members will be exposed to the vacuum of space, meaning a successful EVA during a spacewalk is crucial not only as a test of the project’s viability, but also for the survival of the entire crew.
SpaceX unveiled the EVA suit in May after years of delays, a modification of the space company’s In-Vehicle Activity Suit. Designed with astronauts in mind to improve mobility, it includes 3D-printed helmets to reduce glare from the sun while the wearer is outside the vehicle, as well as a head-up display and advanced camera. The suit is also designed to fit a variety of body types, allowing for mass production.
The crew will also be the first to test Starlink’s laser-based communications in space, and according to SpaceX, the goal is to develop the system for use on missions to the Moon, Mars, and “beyond.”
Among the Polaris Dawn crew is the person who is funding the mission. Jared Isaacman is the mission commander, but he is best known as the billionaire CEO of payment processing company Shift4. Isaacman previously went to space on Inspiration4, the first all-civilian flight to orbit. Along with the rest of the Polaris Dawn crew, he has spent the past two years training for the mission. In addition to Polaris Dawn, Isaacson is paying SpaceX an undisclosed sum for two more Polaris missions, the latter of which will hopefully be the first crewed flight aboard SpaceX’s reusable transportation system, Starship. Launch dates for the subsequent missions have not been announced.
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