Summary
- Polaris Dawn aims for first private spacewalk
- Mission to travel the farthest since the Apollo missions
- Crew preps for SpaceX mission with new suits
A few weeks ago,
SpaceX showed off its twin dragons (for the Polaris Dawn mission and Crew-9)
. The private mission,
SpaceX’s
Polaris Dawn is soon to blast off (possibly today on September 10) and its crew are expected to attempt the first-ever private commercial spacewalk. Before boarding the spacecraft, the
astronauts recently performed an eye-catching flyby of the stacked launch vehicle
.
Polaris blasts off for first private space walk
Polaris Dawn plans to travel further out than any other manned mission since the Apollo missions. The first US spacewalk took place in 1965 on a Gemini capsule and the Apollo program ended in 1972. Three missions are planned as part of the Polaris Dawn program with the third culmulating with the new SpaceX Starship still under development.
Photo: Evgeniyqw l Shutterstock
The next four-hour launch window opens at 03:37 ET (07:38 GMT) with backup launch opportunities available on Wednesday (September 11). Reuters reported there is considered to be a 40% chance of favorable weather. However, it appears the mission is a go, as of the time of writing, Elon Musk has tweeted “Just over an hour to go before liftoff” only 10 minutes ago.
The mission has previously been delayed due to a small helium leak (now fixed) and US regulators over an unrelated mission concerning a Falcon 9.
“The Polaris Dawn crew will be the first crew to test Starlink laser-based communications in space, providing valuable data for future space communications systems necessary for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.” – Polaris Dawn
The farthese spacewalk since Apollo
The first Polaris Dawn mission will last around five days and its oval-shaped orbit will take it as close to Earth as 118 miles and as far out as 870 miles. The space walk is expected to take place on the missions’ third day and will last around 20 minutes. It is planned to take place 435 miles from Earth. The
shuttle
lacks an airlock, so all four astronauts will need to rely on their new SpaceX-built spacesuits.
Reuters writes, “A crew of four private astronauts on Tuesday were in the final stages of preparation for a risky SpaceX mission to attempt the first-ever private spacewalk using the company’s new spacesuits and a redesigned spacecraft.” The mission is begin lead by billionaire entrepreneur
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is reusable and this will be the third time it has flown into space. Only highly trained and well-founded government astronauts have done spacewalks in the past. Since the International Space Station was created in 2000, the station has seen 270 spacewalks and another 16 have been performed on the Chinese Tiangong
space
station.