2024-09-10 11:33:46| Engadget
A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the four private astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission has launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early hours of September 10 after a few weeks of delays. The mission was scheduled to lift off at the end of August but was postponed first due to technical issues, then because of poor weather conditions forecasted for the crews return. On board are Jared Isaacman the billionaire who funded the mission retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Kidd Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Theyll attempt several firsts during the five-day flight, including the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
That attempt will also mark the first spacewalk from a Dragon capsule. Among Polaris Dawn's other goals is to send its crew farther than anyone has traveled since the Apollo program, targeting an altitude of about 870 miles from Earth. The journey will take the capsule and its crew briefly into the Van Allen radiation belt.
The @PolarisPrograms Polaris Dawn mission will be the first crew to perform a spacewalk from Dragon, fly higher in Earths 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
Polaris Dawn is meant to be the first of three human spaceflight missions under Isaacmans Polaris Program. Its crew will put SpaceXs new Extravehicular Activity space suit to its most important test yet, as theyll all wear it for protection against the vacuum of space when the Dragons doors open for the spacewalk. The spacewalk will take place at an elliptical orbit roughly 435 miles above Earths surface, and two crew members will leave the capsule.
Liftoff of Polaris Dawn! pic.twitter.com/VeGfJxzWKl Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 10, 2024
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/polaris-dawn-is-finally-headed-to-space-for-its-groundbreaking-civilian-mission-093346616.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Latest from this category |
|
|
