by SpaceX’s upcoming Polaris Dawn mission aims to be historic in more ways than one. Polaris Dawn plans to not only orbit the Earth higher than any astronauts have in over 50 years but also represent the first private spacewalk.
The mission was expected to launch on August 27, 2024, but after detecting a helium leak, SpaceX pushed the launch date back 24 hours, to the morning of August 28.
A team of four will be present: mission commander, Jared Isaacman; Scott Poteet, a 20-year Air Force veteran pilot; and SpaceX employees Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. Launching on a Falcon 9 rocket, they will travel in a SpaceX Dragon capsule named Resilience.
As a space policy expert, I see this mission as a major step in the development of commercial spaceflight. If successful, this mission will show that private companies are working on developing the capabilities needed to go to the Moon or Mars.
Commercial space flights
Polaris Dawn’s time in space will test communications between it and Earth via Starlink satellites with nearly 40 experiments being conducted. Many of these experiments will study how the human body reacts in low-gravity environments and measure the radiation received by the capsule.
But Polaris Dawn’s biggest task will be the first private spacewalk. The spacewalk will test SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity, or EVA, suits and learn how they perform in the low-gravity environment of space.
Polaris Dawn is not the first commercial spaceflight mission launched by SpaceX. In addition to providing launch services to NASA, SpaceX sells flights on its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule to individuals and companies.
SpaceX’s first commercial mission, Inspiration4, launched in 2021. It was led by Isaacman, the Polaris Dawn commander.
After that mission, Isaacman purchased three additional flights from SpaceX and worked with the company to start the Polaris program. Although neither Isaacman nor SpaceX have released exact numbers, seats on the Dragon have already been sold for about US$55 million.
Polaris Dawn is only the first of three planned Polaris missions. Although few details have been released about the latter, the third mission will be SpaceX’s first manned Starship launch.
High-flying orbit
Given SpaceX’s ambitions to carry out its own missions to the Moon and Mars, it will have to develop and test the many features that those missions will require. It must design and test an EVA suit, carry out longer missions that mimic the time required to reach places like the Moon and demonstrate the ability to communicate with Earth.
Polaris Dawn’s high-flying orbit will send humans further from Earth than they have been in more than 50 years.
At its peak, Polaris Dawn is planned to reach an orbit of more than 850 miles (1367 kilometers) from Earth. That’s more than twice the distance between Earth and the International Space Station, which orbits about 254 miles (408 km) up. It will also be the highest orbit reached by humans since the Apollo program sent astronauts around and to the Moon.
Testing a new suit
Perhaps more importantly, the spacewalk will test SpaceX’s new EVA suit. Developing these suits may be one of the most difficult tasks to complete.
NASA learned early on that a space suit is extremely difficult. They must provide life support and protection from the space environment and allow astronauts to move around. This is extremely difficult, as a full pressure suit is bulky and difficult to move into, leading to exhaustion.
NASA developed its current generation of EVA suits in the 1980s. Just this summer, NASA canceled several spacewalks due to suit discomfort and refrigerant leaks.
The Polaris Dawn crew is scheduled to perform their extravehicular activities on August 30. To do so, they will lower their orbit to about 434 miles (700 km) to reduce the crew’s exposure to radiation.
Four of the Polaris Dawn crew will be fit for the spacewalk. After depressurizing the entire capsule, two of the crew – Isaacman and Gillis – will leave the relative safety of the Dragon capsule to spend about two hours in space.
A charitable cause
Polaris and Polaris Dawn are trying to raise money for childhood cancer research while expanding SpaceX’s capacity for space exploration. As a tech billionaire, Isaacman has a long history of charitable giving.
Like Isaacman’s earlier Inspiration4 mission, Polaris Dawn is also raising money for St. Mary’s Children’s Research Hospital. Jude, in one case seeking donations in return for Doritos chips specially developed for the space.
Isaacman’s commitment to coupling this mission with his philanthropy suggests that he understands many people’s criticisms of the so-called billionaire space club. These arguments often include the idea that billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos would help people more by spending their money on things like poverty alleviation rather than space missions.
Although private missions like this are not funded by tax dollars and do not require public support, Isaacman’s decision to St. Jude to be a partner with immediate tangible benefits on Earth.
Like many of SpaceX’s endeavors, Polaris Dawn is ambitious, but essential to the company’s future plans. Before SpaceX can run to Mars, it must first walk – or spacewalk, to be more precise.
This article was updated on August 27, 2024, to reflect the shipping delay.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you reliable facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Wendy Whitman Cobb, Air University
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Wendy Whitman Cobb is affiliated with the US School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense or any of her own. Reference to trade names, commercial products or organizations does not imply endorsement by the US Government, and the appearance of external hyperlinks does not imply DoD endorsement of the linked websites, or the information, products or they are services.
