Polaris Dawn Crew Interview Ahead of All-civilian Spacewalk | NBC TODAY Show

Polaris Dawn Crew Interview Ahead of All-civilian Spacewalk | NBC TODAY Show

Polaris Dawn crew members Jared Isaacman, Sarah Gillis, Scott Poteet, and Anna Menon joined the TODAY show to share details about their upcoming historic mission as they get ready to attempt the first all-civilian spacewalk. The 5-day private mission is set to launch early summer on SpaceX’s Dragon X where they will also be testing out brand new spacesuits.

At ~700 km above Earth, the extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit will support the Polaris Dawn crew in the vacuum of space during the first-ever commercial astronaut spacewalk. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Polaris Dawn mission from Florida. Dragon and the Polaris Dawn crew will spend up to five days in orbit. This Dragon mission will take advantage of Falcon 9 and Dragon’s maximum performance, flying higher than any Dragon mission to date by reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown. Orbiting through portions of the Earth's Van Allen radiation belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research with the aim of better understanding the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health.

Evolved from the Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit, the EVA suit provides greater mobility, a state-of-the-art helmet Heads-Up Display (HUD) and camera, new thermal management textiles, and materials borrowed from Falcon’s interstage and Dragon’s trunk.

Building a base on the Moon and a city on Mars will require millions of spacesuits. The development of this suit and the execution of the spacewalk will be important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions as life becomes multiplanetary.

Polaris Dawn Crew

Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander

Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot

Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist

Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer

Learn about the Polaris Dawn Mission:

https://polarisprogram.com/dawn/

Video Credit: NBC TV

Release Date: May 6, 2024

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