SpaceX is set to launch a team of four private astronauts into space Tuesday morning as part of a groundbreaking mission aimed at performing the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
On board the mission, called Polaris Dawn, is billionaire Jared Isaacman, who previously flew to orbit with SpaceX in 2021 and provided funding for the flight and its development.
He is joined by two of SpaceX’s top engineers, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, as well as Isaacman’s friend and former Air Force pilot Scott “Kid” Poteet.
The crew, which will travel inside a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:38 a.m. local time (4:38 a.m. Brasilia time) on Aug. 27.
SpaceX also has launch opportunities at 5:23 a.m. or 7:09 a.m. If the mission is delayed, the company could also launch on Aug. 28 at the same times.
The pivotal moment of the mission is scheduled to occur on the third day of the flight, when Isaacman and Gillis plan to emerge from an open hatch in the Crew Dragon spacecraft and each take a spacewalk. The two will emerge one at a time for 15 to 20 minutes while tethered to the vehicle.
It’s not yet clear how SpaceX intends to incorporate spacewalks into future missions, but the company is eager to test this new capability.
“I think we’ll be really interested to see where the company takes this,” Gillis said in an interview ahead of the launch. “This is clearly the first step, and it’s a very important step.”
Although only Gillis and Isaacman will be exiting the spacecraft, the entire crew will be wearing SpaceX’s new spacesuits, as the entire interior of the Crew Dragon will be exposed to the vacuum of space during the maneuver.
The entire procedure, from venting the spacecraft’s atmosphere to resealing the spacecraft, should take about two hours.
While the primary focus of the mission is spacewalking, Polaris Dawn plans to accomplish a number of secondary goals in addition to breaking some spaceflight records.
The first stage of the flight will see the Crew Dragon spacecraft reach an altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) above Earth, making it the farthest humans have flown into space since Apollo astronauts landed on the moon.
If the mission is successful, Menon and Gillis will hold the record for women to have traveled the farthest from Earth.
Because of the distance the crew will travel, they will be exposed to a much higher radiation environment than most astronauts experience while traveling to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit.
This will allow SpaceX to gather important research on how the space environment affects the human body.
Additionally, SpaceX is also planning a flight demonstration of its Starlink service. A “laser” mounted inside the spacecraft will attempt to connect to Starlink internet satellites, testing the connectivity that future missions might use.
The entire Polaris Dawn mission is expected to last about five days before the crew returns to Earth, splashing down off the coast of Florida.
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