SpaceX Polaris Dawn targets December launch date
The Polaris Dawn mission has a December launch target.
Commander and billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who will command the private polar dawn mission on a SpaceX Dragon capsule, made the announcement during an air show July 29 between high performance jet training with the rest of the crew.
“We’re looking at the end of the year right now, so probably December,” Isaacman told reporters at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wis. according to SpaceNews (opens in a new tab).
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Previously, mission officials said they were plan the launch in the fourth quarter of 2022 at the earliest, using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Isaacman is best known in space circles for inspiration4who raised more than $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in September on another mission he flew with SpaceX.
Isaacman and his Polaris Dawn crew are in full training. On July 31, Isaacman also shared several photos of MiG-29 jets in flight as part of the air show, saying his crew members were taking part in the exercise.
“Incredible days,” he said. wrote on Twitter (opens in a new tab). “High performance, high consequence flying is part of our training…plus maximum fun. Thanks for a great team that brought it all together.”
Polaris Dawn is the first of three separate crewed launches, all funded by Isaacman. This first effort will see Isaacman pilot a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft alongside Sarah Gillis, Anna Menon and Scott Poteet. (Gillis and Menon both work at SpaceX.) The second launch aims to use a Dragon while the third is planned as the first crewed mission for SpatialshipSpaceX’s next-generation spacecraft.
Amazing few days @EAA Oshkosh w/@PolarisProgram. High performance, high consequence flying is part of our training..plus maximum fun🤙. Thanks for a great team that put this together. See you next year pic.twitter.com/ndKdcFJ6IUJuly 31, 2022
Among the objectives of the mission is the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), of a private astronaut. The crew will use EVA suits developed by SpaceX for the effort. Crew Dragon will be depressurized for spacewalk similar to NASA Gemini the capsules were in the 1960s, requiring all crew members to wear suits designed for a vacuum environment.
Other crew training includes indoor scuba diving in California to practice EVAs, climbing mountain peaks in Ecuador, and performing centrifugation drills with vomit-like flight paths. comet.
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