SpaceX is preparing to launch its next special mission, which will see astronauts attempt to enter space for the first time. The launch is scheduled for August 26.

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“We don’t have the possibility of launching the ship at any time of day, but I think the launch will be quite close to dawn, which is very appropriate given the scale of the mission,” said American businessman, billionaire, pilot and astronaut Jared Isaacman.

Isaacman will lead the mission, as he did when he led the historic Inspiration4 flight in 2021. He will once again lead a four-person crew; longtime colleague Scott Poteet will join him as pilot, and SpaceX couple Anna Menon and Sarah Gillies will join as medical specialist and mission specialist, respectively.

“We’re going to go to a very high altitude where humans haven’t been in over 50 years,” Isaacman said. But the main event of Polaris Dawn is the planned spacewalk.

Isaacman said he understood that going into space meant he and his team would be “surrounded by death,” and they prepared well for that moment.

“The only thing that comes close to this is a vacuum chamber, and that’s as close as you can get to being in a vacuum or space. It definitely gives you a real sense of the changes in pressure and temperature and the psychology of being in a very harsh environment,” Isaacman said.