SpaceX is set to launch a crew of four private astronauts to space early on Tuesday morning, 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.
Flying with him are two lead SpaceX engineers, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, as well as Isaacman’s friend and former Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet.
The crew, who will ride inside a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, are expected to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 3.38am local time on August 27.
SpaceX also has launch opportunities at 5.23am or 7.09am If the mission is delayed, the company can also launch on August 28 during those same times.
The signature moment of the mission is set to take place on the third day of flight, when Isaacman and Gillis plan to step outside an open hatch on their Crew Dragon spacecraft and each perform a spacewalk.
The two will go out one at a time for about 15 to 20 minutes each while tethered to the vehicle.
It is unclear how SpaceX plans to incorporate spacewalking into future missions, but the company is eager to test out the new capability.
“I think we’ll be really interested to see where the company does take it,” Gillis said in an interview before launch. “Obviously, this is the first step, and this is a really important step.”
While only Gillis and Isaacman will be leaving the spacecraft, the entire crew will be wearing SpaceX’s new spacesuits, as the full interior of the Crew Dragon will be exposed to the vacuum of space for the manoeuvre.
The entire procedure, from venting out the atmosphere of the spacecraft to resealing the vehicle, should take about two hours.
Though the main focus of the mission will be on the spacewalk, Polaris Dawn plans to perform a number of secondary objectives, as well as break some space-flight records.
The first phase of flight will see the Crew Dragon spacecraft reach a height of 870 miles (1,400km) above Earth, making it the furthest humans have flown into space since the Apollo astronauts reached the moon.
If the mission is successful, both Menon and Gillis will hold the record for women who have travelled the farthest from Earth.
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Because of the distance the crew is travelling, they will be exposed to a much higher radiation environment than what most astronauts experience while travelling to the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit.
That will allow SpaceX to collect critical research about how the space environment affects the human body.
Additionally, SpaceX also plans to perform an in-flight demonstration of its Starlink service. A mounted “plaser” inside the spacecraft will attempt to connect with Starlink internet satellites, to test out connectivity that future missions might use.
The entire Polaris Dawn mission should last roughly five days before the crew returns back to Earth, splashing down off the coast of Florida.
