SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Mission: First Private Spacewalk and High-Altitude Research

SpaceX Prepares for Groundbreaking Polaris Dawn Mission

After a two-week delay, SpaceX is on the brink of launching its latest mission, aimed at sending four astronauts into space to attempt the first private spacewalk in history. The Polaris Dawn mission, which marks the first of three missions sponsored and led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, is scheduled to launch from Florida on Tuesday morning. The crew comprises Isaacman, his colleague Scott Poteet, and two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. As outlined on the Polaris Dawn website, the mission aims to orbit through a radiation belt and reach the highest Earth orbit ever attempted.

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In a pre-mission briefing on Monday, Isaacman expressed, “We stand to learn quite a bit from this mission about human health, science, and research. If we ever get to Mars, we’d love to return healthy enough to share our experiences.” This mission is particularly noteworthy as it represents the first time a private company will conduct an extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, at approximately 700 kilometers above Earth.

What is the Mission Plan?

The astronauts will have five days to execute their mission, with the primary focus on the spacewalk. The crew has identified multiple potential launch times around August 26, selecting the optimal window to minimize risks from micrometeorite orbital debris, a concern stemming from previous missions, according to Isaacman.

On the first day in orbit, the crew will conduct tests on the Dragon capsule to ensure there are no significant faults before ascending to a 1,400-kilometer orbit. Additionally, they will traverse the South Atlantic Anomaly, a high-radiation area within Earth’s magnetic field. Research conducted in this region aims to better understand “the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health,” as stated by the Polaris program.

By day two, the crew will engage in 40 scientific experiments proposed by Polaris Dawn. Gillis noted that this includes deploying several SpaceX satellites designed to communicate with one another without relying on ground infrastructure.

The Polaris Dawn crew consists of (left to right): Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis, Scott Poteet, and Jared Isaacman.

To facilitate the upcoming spacewalk, SpaceX has developed a new suit known as the EVA, equipped with cameras and heads-up displays that provide astronauts with real-time information regarding their suit’s status while outside their vehicle. The suits also feature what SpaceX describes as “improved thermal management” and helmets designed to function as sun visors.

The third day will be dedicated to the spacewalk itself, during which the astronauts will again test their support systems and suits before opening the hatch for the EVA. Isaacman indicated that the astronauts might appear to be “doing a little dance” during the spacewalk, which will actually be a method to assess how the suits perform under pressurized oxygen at such high altitudes. The spacewalk is expected to last approximately two hours and will be live-streamed from Polaris Dawn.

Continued Research and Exploration

The final two days of the mission will be focused on completing the scientific research objectives that the team has set out to achieve, as Gillis elaborated.

Making Life ‘Multiplanetary’

Isaacman emphasized that one of the mission’s objectives is to gather scientific data that will contribute to SpaceX’s overarching goal of making life “multiplanetary.” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has stated since 2008 that the vision of multiplanetary life represents a significant evolutionary milestone, akin to life transitioning from oceans to land. “Traveling to another planet involves crossing billions of miles of hostile space… and creating an ecology on a planet vastly different from our own,” Musk remarked in a video shared on his X account in May.

The Polaris Dawn mission will play a crucial role in collecting data regarding the suits that may be essential for “building a base on the Moon and establishing a city on Mars,” according to a statement released by the Polaris program in May.