This month, the emerging era of private space travel takes a major step forward. SpaceX is set to launch Polaris Dawnhis second fully civilian mission (after Inspiration4 in 2021) and the first in their Polaris program.
Original announced in 2022Designed to push the boundaries of SpaceX's technology and pave the way for long-term human presence in space, Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions funded by billionaire Jared Isaakmanwho also funded Inspiration4. Although the launch date has been pushed back a few times over the years, the launch is now scheduled for no earlier than July 12, 2024 according to a recent interview with Isaacman.
The mission's plans include the first commercial spacewalk, ambitious research into human health in space, testing to equip the spacecraft with Starlink WiFi, and reaching a high orbit more than 800 miles above the earth—the furthest a human has ever been from our planet since the Apollo eraSpaceX sees the mission as an early scout for their Starship spacecraftan ambitious science fiction project that was supposed to send hundreds of people into orbit around the Earth, the Moon and perhaps even Mars.
Polaris Dawn will use the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to four team members to space: Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. This crew will spend about five days in orbit, flying so high above our planet that they will actually pass through the van Allen radiation beltsrings of energetic particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic field. No one has passed through the Van Allen belts since the Apollo program ended in the early 1970s.
The Polaris Dawn crew plans to take advantage of that fact and collect medical data to better understand how that radiation environment affects the people who travel through it. They will also a range of other health studiesincluding measuring the gas bubbles in their blood to study decompression sickness (popularly known as “the bends”).
One of the wildest experiments, however, is aimed at understanding “spaceflight associated neuro ocular syndrome,” or SANS. This is “one of the biggest challenges associated with long-duration spaceflight,” Poteet explained in an interview with NASASpaceflight Live. When an astronaut is in microgravity, the pressure of the spinal fluid — the mucus that surrounds your brain and vital nerves, like those in your spine and eyes — changes, sometimes resulting in troubling symptoms like blurry vision. The crew will measure this pressure using a number of noninvasive techniques, but Poteet also hopes to be the guinea pig for the first invasive measurement of spinal fluid pressure in space, where he would have a measuring device surgically implanted before flight.
That won't be the biggest first for the mission, though. Polaris Dawn plans to conduct the first spacewalk ever on a private mission, that is, the first one conducted outside the domain of NASA or another government agency. first NASA spacewalk happened in 1965 on Gemini IV, when astronaut Ed White spent 21 minutes outside his spacecraft. Since then, spacewalks have become a regular part of operations on the International Space Stationand have even been used to repair the Hubble Space Telescope during a Space Shuttle mission.
The Polaris Dawn crew will be in SpaceX's newly designed EVA suits to protect them from the deadly vacuum of space, where they will spend about two hours going through the entire process of getting out and back into the spacecraft. Historically, NASA's Space Suits have been a large affair, with a very limited number of people who can actually wear them. SpaceX's goal is to create an EVA suit that is more flexible – literally and figuratively – to make the spacewalk experience more accessible to a variety of heights and body types, with the ultimate goals being “a base on the moon and a city on Mars.” according to their website“We're trying to inspire people to think about this extraordinary world we could live in tomorrow, where people live on Mars,” he said. Isaacman on the Today show.
Last but not least, the mission aims to test Starlink, SpaceX's satellite-based internet, from a spacecraft, as a way to provide internet connectivity even far away from Earth. Like Inspiration4, the mission also raises money for St. Jude Children's Hospitaland Mennon will stream herself reading her children's book while in space, hopefully sparking children's interest in science.
The crew has been training for all these ambitious goals for a number of years now, from Parachuting Unpleasant high altitude mountain climbingeven centrifuge training a la NASA astronauts. Even if they are ready to go into space, the launch date depends most on the technology to actually get them there — and there is certainly a chance that the mission’s launch will be pushed back again until after this month. But whenever it does launch, it will certainly be a milestone in humanity’s quest to go further into space and will provide useful information for planning future efforts. “We want to share the lessons learned with everyone,” Poteet said on NASASpace Live“It's about involving all of humanity, so that we can go to the moon and to Mars.”
