SpaceX's private spacewalk mission finally gets a launch date
What's the story
SpaceX has revealed the launch date for its groundbreaking Polaris Dawn mission. "We are targeting no earlier than August 26 for the launch of Polaris Dawn," the Polaris mission account on X said in a post. The five-day mission will make history by featuring first-ever private spacewalk. The four-person crew will journey to Earth orbit in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
Crew details
Meet the crew of the mission
The Polaris Dawn mission will be led by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, with Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, serving as the pilot. The team also includes mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both of whom are SpaceX engineers. This mission is part of the larger Polaris program that comprises three planned crewed missions using SpaceX hardware, all commanded and funded by Isaacman.
Twitter Post
Take a look at the post
We are targeting no earlier than August 26 for the launch of Polaris Dawn pic.twitter.com/tkkiRke64a
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) August 7, 2024
Mission path
Polaris Dawn's unique trajectory and previous delays
Unlike typical missions, Polaris Dawn will not rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). Instead, it aims to take its crew farther from Earth than any mission since the Apollo era, orbiting our planet at an altitude of approximately 700km. The launch has been postponed several times since its initial schedule in 2022 due to the ambitious nature and pioneering complexity of this mission.