A Breakdown Of The Upcoming First-Of-Its-Kind Polaris Dawn Spacewalk Mission

SpaceX has become a leading force in the private space exploration industry, but there are a few feats the company hasn’t yet facilitated. Pretty soon, however, there should be one less entry on that list.

A half-century in the making

Led by commander Jared Isaacman, whose background includes heading up the Inspiration4 mission several years ago, the first launch in a series of Polaris Dawn missions is expected to take place less than a week from now in Florida.

If you haven’t heard of this mission, it’s significant for several reasons … most notably because it’s expected to include the first private-sector spacewalk in history. Polaris Dawn is also scheduled to take the four-person crew to heights that no human has reached since the ‘70s.

Monday’s planned launch is expected to be the first of three that Isaacson, a billionaire, purchased directly from SpaceX. Joined by pilot Scott Poteet, medical officer Anna Menon, and Sarah Gillis, he’s planning to spend up to five days in space.

The Polaris Dawn itinerary

So how will the crew spend their time in space? The first day is expected to be dominated by a series of tests to ensure that the launch went as planned and everything is clear for orbit. If all goes as planned, day two will involve an array of experiments as well as preparations by Isaacson and Gillis for a two-hour spacewalk planned for the third day of the mission.

SpaceX has reportedly designed an all-new class of spacesuits after conducting a battery of tests to confirm that they will stand up to the demands of the planned spacewalk.

And for the rest of us here on Earth, there will be cameras in place to (hopefully) stream the history-making spacewalk in real time to devices around the world.

Chris Agee August 20th, 2024

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