Polaris Dawn Mission SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket & Crew Dragon Pre-launch

Polaris Dawn Mission SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket & Crew Dragon Pre-launch

SpaceX Falcon 9 & specially modified Crew Dragon spacecraft

SpaceX Falcon 9 & specially modified Crew Dragon spacecraft

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket moving to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida

Polaris Dawn crew signing Falcon 9 booster

Crew Dragon training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California | From left to right: Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer, Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot, Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander, Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist

Polaris Mission Patch

The Polaris Program is a planned human spaceflight program organized by businessman and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman. Isaacman, who commanded the first all-civilian spaceflight— Inspiration4—in September 2021, purchased flights from SpaceX in order to create the Polaris Program.

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. Launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft is expected no earlier than Aug. 27, 2024. 

"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

Image Credits: Polaris Program/SpaceX

Release Dates: Feb. 2022-Aug. 23, 2024

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