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SpaceX Four private astronauts are scheduled to launch farther than any human since the end of the Apollo era. The crew will be on a mission to conduct
SpaceX Four private astronauts are scheduled to launch farther than any human since the end of the Apollo era. The crew will be on a mission to conduct the first commercial spacewalk.
The Polaris Dawn mission will launch early Tuesday, September 10, during a four-hour launch window starting at 3:38 a.m. ET (7:38 GMT). Two additional launch opportunities are available during the four-hour window; one at 5:23 a.m. ET (9:23 a.m. GMT) and the other at 7:09 a.m. ET (11:09 a.m. GMT). Backup launch options will become available at the same time on Wednesday, September 11, according to SpaceX.
“Falcon 9 launch for the Polaris Dawn mission is not scheduled until Tuesday, September 10,” SpaceX wrote in a post on X on September 8. “Weather is currently 40% favorable for launch and conditions are under observation for potential landing sites for Dragon’s return to Earth.”
Polaris Dawn will launch from SpaceX-39A launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which supported all of the Apollo crew’s missions to the moon. While it’s true that every single one of SpaceX’s astronaut launches to date has flown from LC-39A, it’s especially fitting that the members of Polaris Dawn will launch from there because it will take them further than any crewed mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Billionaire philanthropist Jared Isaacman is footing the bill for the mission, and plans for it to be the first of three in the Polaris Program. Dawn will be Isaacman’s second space mission funded and also his second solo launch into orbit. In both cases, the first came in 2021 with the launch of Inspriation4, the first all-civilian space flight. These missions, and the next two planned for the Polaris program, have a dual purpose: to push the boundaries of private human space exploration and to raise money to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Through Inspriation4, Isaacman and the mission have raised $250 million for the organization.
Isaacman will fly as the commander of the Polaris Dawn mission, joining mission pilot retired U.S. Air Force (USAF) Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet and the first two SpaceX employees to launch, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Both serve as principal engineers for space exploration. Gillis and Menon will be mission specialists.
Source: Port Altele
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