Elon Musk’s company has achieved great milestones in space missions and is about to make history. It will be with the mission that, after a slight delay, will take place on August 27 and will have, for the first time, a civilian crew. SpaceX is on course to take a very important step that will mark the future of the aerospace company.
So far, SpaceX has carried out a number of missions, but so far none have had a civilian crew on board. At the same time, it will also be the first time that a spacewalk is carried out on a commercial trip to space. This will open the door to a business that the company has been developing for a long time and that aims to change everything, at least, of course, for those who can afford it.
A slight delay
Initially, the Polaris Dawn mission was intended to begin on the 26th, but SpaceX believes that an extra day is necessary in order to carry out various checks. This is a historic moment for space travel and they don’t want anything to go wrong. Jared Isaacman, who is leading the mission, mentions that they will happily take that extra day to ensure that everything is properly prepared.
Isaacman is a businessman, billionaire and space lover who already has experience traveling outside the planet, but on this occasion he will go much further than he could have imagined. As Elon Musk himself mentioned previously, the Polaris Dawn flight will mark two historic moments. The first of them means, as we said, taking the first spacewalk on a commercial flight into space. The second is traveling farther from Earth than has been traveled in a very long period of time: more than half a century. If everything goes smoothly, this would be a flight that would pave the way for many other missions of similar characteristics.
A trip 700 km from Earth
SpaceX will use the Crew Dragon spacecraft for this mission, which will include four members: the aforementioned Jared Isaacman, retired pilot Scott Poteet, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, and mission director and engineer Anna Menon, also an employee of Elon Musk’s company. Together, they will travel further than a SpaceX mission has ever been and will ensure that the entire plan that has been established is carried out successfully.
Until takeoff, the crew members will be confined to the Kennedy Space Center, from where they will be launched into orbit using one of the Falcon 9 rockets that are so characteristic of SpaceX flights. The plan will be for them to spend five days in space and then return using the parachute landing system that is already routinely used with astronauts traveling to the International Space Station.
While they wait, they are keeping active with training sessions, sports and reviewing what they will have to do on the mission. They know that there will be more risks than when they travel to the International Space Station, but they are aware of the importance of space research. Not in vain, the Polaris Dawn mission will carry out important research. For example, they will investigate the effects of space radiation on the health of those who travel outside the planet and the way in which space flights affect the human body.
Of course, given how SpaceX is setting up a big future business with space tourism, they want to make sure they know every last detail and all the implications that could come with it. These first steps could help develop much more comprehensive and accessible travel programs in the future. To watch the launch live, you’ll have to go to SpaceX’s X profile or its official website, though it may also end up getting a big airplay on YouTube. When spacewalks become just another tourism proposition in the future, the Polaris Dawn mission will be remembered as the moment it all started to become real.
