SpaceX's upcoming Polaris Dawn mission strives to become historical in many ways. Polaris Dawn plans to not only orbit the Earth higher than any astronaut in the last 50 years, but also perform the first private spacewalk.
The launch is expected to take place on August 27, 2024, with a crew of four: mission commander Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, a 20-year veteran Air Force pilot, and SpaceX employees Anna Menon and Sarah Gillies. The launch will take place on Falcon 9 rocketthey will travel to SpaceX Dragon capsule called “Sustainability”.
How space policy expertI see this mission as an important step in the development of commercial spaceflight. If successful, this mission will show that private companies are working to develop the capabilities needed to fly to the Moon or Mars.
Commercial space flights
The time Polaris Dawn spends in space will be spent testing communications between it and Earth via Starlink satellites and completion of nearly 40 experiments. Many of these experiments will study how Human body response in low gravity conditions and measure radiation the capsule accepts.
But Polaris Dawn's biggest challenge will be the first private spacewalk. there will be a spacewalk test SpaceX new EVA suits and learn how they function in the low gravity of space.
Polaris Dawn is not the first commercial space mission launched by SpaceX. In addition to providing launch services for NASASpaceX also sells flight rights to individuals and companies on its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew spacecraft.
SpaceX's first commercial mission, Inspiration4launched in 2021 and led by Isaacman, commander of Polaris Dawn.
After that mission, Isaacman purchased three additional flights from SpaceX and worked with the company to launch the Polaris program. While neither Isaacman nor SpaceX published exact figuresthere are places on the Dragon sold earlier for approximately US$55 million.
Polaris Dawn is just the first of three planned Polaris missions. While there are few details about the second mission, third mission This will be the first launch of SpaceX's Starship with people on board.
High-altitude orbit
This SpaceX's ambitions To conduct its own missions to the Moon and Mars, it will need to develop and test many of the elements that such missions will require. It will need to develop and test spacewalking suits, conduct longer missions that simulate the time it would take to reach places like the Moon, and demonstrate the ability to communicate with Earth.
Polaris Dawn's High Orbit will send people further from the Earth than in the last 50 years.
At its peak, Polaris Dawn aims to reach orbit over 850 miles (1,367 kilometers) from Earth. This is more than twice the distance between Earth and the International Space Station, which orbits at an altitude of about 254 miles (408 km)It will also be the highest orbit ever reached by humans. since the Apollo program sent astronauts to and around the moon.
Testing new suits
Perhaps more importantly, the spacewalk will test SpaceX's capabilities. new spacesuits for spacewalksDeveloping these suits is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks.
NASA knew about this early on spacesuits are incredibly complex. They must provide life support and protection from the space environment while allowing astronauts to move. This is especially difficult because fully sealed spacesuits are bulky and difficult to move in, leading to exhaustion.
NASA has developed its own modern generation of EVA spacesuits in the 1980s. This summer alone, NASA canceled several spacewalks because discomfort in the suit And coolant leaks.
The Polaris Dawn crew plans to conduct a spacewalk on August 30. To do this, they will: lower their orbit to approximately 434 miles (700 km) to reduce crew dwell time radiation exposure.
All four Polaris Dawn crew members will prepare for spacewalkAfter the entire capsule is depressurized, two crew members, Isaacman and Gillis, will leave the relative safety of the Dragon capsule to spend about two hours in space.
Charitable purpose
Polaris and Polaris Dawn aim to raise money for childhood cancer research while expanding SpaceX's capabilities in space exploration. As a tech billionaire, Isaacman has long history charitable donations.
As with Isaacman before Inspiration4 MissionPolaris Dawn is also fundraising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in one case collecting donations in exchange for Doritos chips specially designed for space.
Isaacman's commitment to integrating this mission with his philanthropic work shows that he understands many people. criticism of the so-called space club of billionairesThese arguments often include the idea that billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos would help people more if they spent their money on things like fighting poverty rather than on space missions.
While private missions like this are not financed by tax revenues and do not require public support, Isaacman's decision to make St. Jude a partner creates tangible and immediate benefits on Earth.
Like many of SpaceX’s endeavors, Polaris Dawn is ambitious, but it’s essential to the company’s future plans. Before SpaceX can go to Mars, it must first walk—or spacewalk, to be more precise.
This article is republished from Talka nonprofit, independent news organization providing you with facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. He wrote: Wendy Whitman Cobb, University of Aviation
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Wendy Whitman Cobb is affiliated with the U.S. School of Advanced Aerospace Studies. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its components. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government, and the appearance of external hyperlinks does not imply endorsement by the Department of Defense of the linked web sites or the information, products, or services found therein.