Polaris Dawn Mission News Conference | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Polaris Dawn Mission News Conference | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

On August 21, 2024, before launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, Mission Specialist Anna Menon and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis joined William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX's vice president of Build and Flight Reliability to discuss the historic flight at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The Polaris Dawn Mission will fly a specially-modified SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft higher than any mission to date since the Apollo program, endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown at approximately 700 kilometers above the Earth. Orbiting through portions of the 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, while testing laser-based communications.

The Polaris Dawn crew is preparing for the mission’s "first commercial spacewalk". This extravehicular activity (EVA) will be the final test for SpaceX’s newly-developed EVA spacesuit.

"Completing the first commercial extravehicular activity in low-Earth orbit is an important first step towards a future where millions of humans are visiting, working, and living on the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in our solar system."

The goals of the spacesuit tests are: 

1. Familiarization with how the spacesuit performs in a vacuum

2. Collection of spacesuit and biometric data to assess the overall system’s performance in a flight-like environment

3. Understanding of general impacts of pressure changes on their body during pressurized operations

4. Insight into thermal states expected throughout the spacewalk

5. An elevated metabolic period for the crew to simulate the expected workload during the spacewalk, as well as a reduced-activity period to understand the trend of body temperatures throughout the operation

Polaris Dawn’s spacewalk will be the first time that four astronauts will be concurrently exposed to the vacuum of space. During the approximately two-hour-long operation, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis will separately exit the Dragon spacecraft through its forward hatch. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon will remain seated, managing spacesuit umbilicals and monitoring telemetry on Dragon’s interior displays.

Polaris Dawn Crew

Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander

Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot

Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist

Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer

Learn more about the Polaris Program:

https://polarisprogram.com

Video Credits: Polaris Program / SpaceX / Spaceflight Now

Duration: 1 hour, 18 minutes

Capture Date: Aug. 21, 2024

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