SpaceX has postponed the launch date of the historic Polaris Dawn mission. Earlier it was planned that the mission would take place no earlier than July 31. But now it has been moved to mid to late August. The reason for the delay is the priority launch of Crew-9, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station, which is scheduled for August 18.
Polaris Dawn will send four non-professional astronauts on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft into orbit about 700 kilometers above Earth. This will be the highest flight for Crew Dragon as it will rise 298 kilometers above the ISS. The mission will also be the first commercial open space walk, which will take place in the Van Allen radiation belt. Two crew members will spend several hours outside the spacecraft to test new spacesuits.
The five-day Polaris Dawn mission involves research into the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health, as well as the first test of Starlink laser communications for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The mission is being funded by billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, CEO of payment processing firm Shift4 and an experienced pilot. He also led the first fully civilian orbital flight of the Inspiration4 mission in 2021. In an interview with Singapore’s CNA, Isaacman said the Polaris Dawn mission had been delayed, noting that the launch was expected in late August.
The Polaris Dawn team includes: Jared Isaacman; Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel; Sarah Gillis, SpaceX’s lead space operations engineer who is responsible for astronaut training; and Anna Menon, a SpaceX space operations engineer who leads the development of crew operations and works in the mission control center.
We previously reported on how the Polaris Dawn mission crew tested spacesuits in a vacuum chamber.
According to digitaltrends.com
