Polaris Dawn to launch Saturday? Many delays so far

Still no official word from SpaceX on a launch date

The all-civilian Polaris Dawn mission has faced numerous delays, mostly due to an exploding Falcon 9 booster and the weather. At the moment, the FAA operations plan lists a launch window on Saturday, September 7, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

However SpaceX says via X.com it’s still waiting for better weather in the Atlantic splashdown zone.

Keep reading, to learn what to expect when the mission finally leaves the ground.

Latest forecasts continue to show unfavorable weather conditions in the areas along Florida’s coast where Dragon would splash down upon returning from space. Once teams identify the next best opportunity for launch and return of the Polaris Dawn mission, we’ll provide an update.… pic.twitter.com/f0ZJpcbQf7

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 30, 2024

Polaris Dawn is the 1st all-civilian spaceflight

This is the first mission of the Polaris Program, a planned private spaceflight program. The crew consists entirely of civilians. The astronauts will ride aboard Crew Dragon Resilience, manufactured by SpaceX and built under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

The original target launch date was July 31. The announcements of the new launch dates came via the mission website.

Shortly thereafter, Dragon arrived at our hangar at pad 39A ahead of Falcon 9’s launch of Polaris Dawn pic.twitter.com/HdNYlXCPnQ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 21, 2024

The mission backer will ride along

Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman organized the mission, and he is one of the crew members. In addition to Isaacman, the crew consists of Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. You might remember Jared Isaacman if you watched Netflix’s Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space. Mission commander Isaacman led the first all-civilian mission to space in 2021, spending three days orbiting Earth.

Isaacman, who reportedly made billions in a payment processing company he started in his teens, is financially backing Polaris Dawn. He also backed the Inspiration4 mission.

Poteet is a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, while Gillis and Menon are engineers from SpaceX.

And just as Inspiration4 did, the Polaris Dawn mission will fundraise for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which is dedicated to fighting childhood cancer.

The crew plans to spend up to five days in orbit.

It’ll achieve the highest Earth-orbit since Gemini 11

Polaris Dawn’s initial orbit will be at a remarkable 870 miles (1,400 km) above Earth, about 3 1/2 times higher than the International Space Station. That’s the highest orbit achieved by an earthly spacecraft since Gemini 11 in 1966.

That height will send Polaris Dawn through parts of the Van Allen radiation belts. There are typically two Van Allen belts, but the intense solar storms and subsequent geomagnetic storms of May 2024 spawned a third belt. There’s been no word as to whether the third belt is still up there (last time scientists recorded a third Van Allen Belt, it lasted only a month).

Either way, whether there are two belts or three, the mission plans to use the opportunity to study the effects of space radiation on human health.

Watch a video about the possible third Van Allen Belt below:

It’ll feature the 1st EVA by a private astronaut

Eventually, the Dragon capsule will settle at an orbit of 430 miles (700 km) above Earth (still almost twice as high as the International Space Station). While Dragon is orbiting at that height, Isaacman and Gillis will attempt the first civilian spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA).

They’ll be wearing new SpaceX-designed EVA spacesuits, which were unveiled in May. The team announced the completion of their spacesuit testing on July 18.

The Polaris Dawn crew recently completed a series of spacesuit acceptance tests in preparation for the mission’s extravehicular activity, or spacewalk, marking the final significant developmental and test milestone for SpaceX’s newly-developed EVA spacesuit ?… pic.twitter.com/SOK0ImGir2

— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) July 18, 2024

No airlock for Polaris Dawn. Spacesuits on, everybody!

By the way, the Dragon space capsule – in which the crew will ride – doesn’t have an airlock. And instead of the cupola window, the ship will be transformed with a nose hatch called a skywalker. When the hatch swings open, all the astronauts and the interior of the capsule will be exposed to the vacuum of space. Though wearing their spacesuits, Poteet and Menon will stay within the vehicle. The other two will perform the spacewalk.

This will break the record for the most people in the vacuum of space at once.

Finally, not surprisingly, the mission will attempt to use SpaceX’s Starlink laser-based communications.

Bottom line: Polaris Dawn – an all-civilian mission aiming to set a record for highest orbit of Earth – has faced numerous delays. The FAA has currently given it a launch window on September 7.

Read more: List of SpaceX Starlink launches for September 2024