SpaceX launches Polaris Dawn crew on a daring excursion into Earth’s radiation belts
SpaceX has launched its latest mission, Polaris Dawn, marking a daring venture into Earth's Van Allen radiation belts by a civilian crew of four. The mission, which includes the first-ever commercial spacewalk, took off at 5:23 a.m. ET.
The event was live-streamed on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, which was acquired by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2022.
This launch followed several weather-related delays in late August and earlier Tuesday morning, which had postponed the crew's departure.
Adding to the challenges of the launch, SpaceX not only required clear weather for liftoff but also needed to guarantee calm seas and low winds for the crew's safe return after their five-day mission. The timing of their reentry is crucial, as the spacewalk will deplete oxygen reserves, leaving the Polaris Dawn mission with only enough life support for five or six days in orbit.
The ride to orbit
As the countdown clock hit zero, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket roared to life, sending a brilliant blaze and a deafening boom across NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The crew, secured inside a dome-shaped SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule measuring about 13 feet (4 meters) across at the base, ascended as the rocket broke free from Earth’s gravity.
After about 2 ½ minutes, the rocket’s first stage, having used most of its fuel, detached. The second stage then ignited its engine, continuing to accelerate the Crew Dragon to higher speeds.
While the upper stage pushed the spacecraft onward, the Falcon 9’s first stage autonomously guided itself back to Earth, landing on a drone ship for future reuse—a signature move by SpaceX aimed at cutting launch costs.
To enter orbit, the rocket reached over 17,000 miles per hour (27,358 kilometers per hour), or "orbital velocity." Once at the right speed, the Crew Dragon separated and began navigating space with its onboard thrusters for the remainder of the mission.
First commercial spacewalk attempt
Polaris Dawn, a collaboration between SpaceX and billionaire Jared Isaacman, founder of Shift4 Payments, marks Isaacman’s second venture into space following the Inspiration4 mission in September 2021.
However, this mission is far from a leisure trip.
Isaacman and his crew—Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a former U.S. Air Force pilot and close friend, along with SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis—aim to set several groundbreaking records.
Their goal is to send the SpaceX capsule to record-breaking altitudes, surpassing the 853-mile (1,373 kilometers) milestone set by NASA’s 1966 Gemini 11 mission. Polaris Dawn aims to exceed that altitude by roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers), making it the highest human flight since NASA’s Apollo program, which ended in 1972 and sent astronauts beyond Earth's orbit to the moon.
Additionally, the mission may set a new record for the farthest distance any woman has traveled into space.
On day three, while orbiting at a lower altitude of about 435 miles (700 kilometers), the crew will attempt a historic spacewalk. This risky maneuver will expose both the crew and the Crew Dragon's interior to the vacuum of space, raising concerns about hatch relocking due to pressure differentials. There’s also the potential for toxins to be released when the cabin is repressurized, though SpaceX has taken preventive measures.
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