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Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, in partnership with SpaceX has launched a first private spacewalk in a mission known as Polaris Dawn.
The mission lifted off at 5:23am ET on Tuesday. SpaceX livestreamed the launch on X as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It will be a five-day Polaris Dawn Mission.
The Polaris Dawn mission will be the first spacewalk conducted by nonprofessional astronauts, and the farthest journey from Earth by anyone since NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966. Only the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon have ventured father.
“Today’s successful launch of Polaris Dawn highlights that the future of human spaceflight is happening now”, said Jessica Jensen, Vice President of Customer Integration and Operations at SpaceX on the Polaris Program website.
“What the crew and Dragon aim to achieve over the next few days – from the first-ever commercial spacewalk in newly-designed EVA suits to traveling the farthest in Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program over 50 years ago to testing Starlink – all of this contributes to SpaceX’s aim to help humanity have greater access to space on our way to returning to the Moon, traveling to Mars, and beyond.”
The four-man crew includes Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. All four are wearing the extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit during the first commercial astronaut spacewalk.
“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.”
As the crew reached orbit, Launch Director Frank Messina radioed saying “Know that the entire team back here is with you every step, watching, supporting and cheering you on as you walk into space. We’re sending you hugs from the ground. May you make history and come home safely.”
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