A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the “Crew Dragon Resilience” capsule carries astronauts from the Polaris Dawn mission.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission launched from Florida on Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that launched the Crew Dragon capsule Resilience into orbit.
This is the first of three missions that billionaire and Shift4 founder Jared Isaacman will purchase from SpaceX in 2022 for his human spaceflight program, Polaris.
The multi-day trip isn’t to a destination like the International Space Station, but rather a free-flying mission tracking an orbit the crew hopes will be far away from Earth.
As a central part of the mission, astronauts will attempt SpaceX’s first-ever spacewalk. Extravehicular activities (EVA) have long been a regular part of government astronaut missions, but no private industry has attempted EVA before. EVA is expected to last two hours from start to finish.
In addition to spacewalks, Polaris Dawn plans to conduct about 40 scientific research experiments during the mission.
The launch has been postponed multiple times over the past few weeks due to headwinds weather conditions and a Helium leak.
Isaacman commanded the mission, leading four astronauts to space, including two of SpaceX’s first employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. This is Isaacman’s second time in orbit after leading the historic Inspiration4 flight in 2021.
Polaris Dawn is SpaceX’s 14th manned mission to date and the fifth private manned space flight.
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