A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a five-day mission known as Polaris Dawn. The mission aims to take the crew to an altitude of 870 miles above Earth’s surface, higher than the International Space Station, to test new spacesuits and technologies for long-duration missions to the moon and eventually Mars. The mission was initially postponed due to a helium leak and poor weather.
The crew will conduct the first all-civilian spacewalk, with Isaacman and Gillis exiting the spacecraft in newly designed spacesuits during the third day of the mission. This will be a historic moment as only government space agency astronauts have performed spacewalks previously. The Crew Dragon capsule will also pass through the Van Allen radiation belt during its journey, allowing scientists to study the effects of space radiation on astronauts and the vehicle. The mission is part of Isaacman’s Polaris program with SpaceX, aiming to test technologies for exploring beyond Earth’s orbit.
The success of Polaris Dawn could pave the way for future missions to the moon and Mars, with the potential for astronauts to fly through the Van Allen radiation belts. Isaacman has not disclosed the cost of the program or the objectives and timing of other planned missions within the Polaris program.
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