Polaris Dawn

Polaris Dawn was a private crewed spaceflight operated by SpaceX for Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman. It was the first of three planned missions in the Polaris program. Launched on September 10, 2024, it was the 14th time a Crew Dragon spacecraft carried people into space.

The crew, which included Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon, traveled in a special elliptical orbit that took them 1,400 kilometers away from Earth. This was the farthest any crew had traveled without going to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, and it happened before Artemis II in 2026. They passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt to learn more about how space radiation and space travel affect the human body.

Later in the mission, the crew did the first ever commercial spacewalk. Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis traveled farther from Earth than any women before them, and Sarah Gillis, who was 30 years old, became the youngest person to ever do a spacewalk. During this spacewalk, four people were exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time, which was a new record. The crew also helped set a record for the most people—19—in orbit at the same time.

After almost five days in space, the crew landed safely in the Gulf of Mexico on September 15.

History

The Polaris program was announced by Jared Isaacman in February 2022. This program was created to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through three planned space missions. The program aimed to develop new technologies for space travel, such as special spacesuits and communication links between spacecraft.

The launch date for the first mission, Polaris Dawn, changed many times due to issues with the spacesuits and technical problems. It was finally launched on September 10, 2024. Before the launch, several changes were made to the spacecraft to prepare it for the mission.

Crew

Jared Isaacman, aged 41, led the mission as the commander. Scott Poteet, a 50-year-old retired Air Force fighter pilot, helped with flying the spacecraft. The crew also included Sarah Gillis, who is 30 years old and works at SpaceX training crews, and Anna Menon, who is 38 and helps manage space missions. Sarah joined Jared for a spacewalk, and Anna took care of health checks during the trip. Anna previously worked for six years at NASA, helping manage the International Space Station.

Mission

Technology

SpaceX made special space suits for this mission. These suits keep astronauts safe in space but are also comfy and flexible for takeoff and landing, so they don’t need different suits for those times. The suits have stretchy, fire-safe fabric and soft joints for easy movement. The boots are made from the same heat-resistant material as parts of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. The suits have better heat control, and the helmets have special lining and a screen to show important suit information. An tube gives the suits air and support, like older Gemini suits, instead of the self-contained suits used on the ISS.

This mission set a record for the most people in space at once, with three people. The crew also did research on health effects from space travel. To make sure everything worked, SpaceX tested their spacecraft many times, and the crew spent time in special chambers to get ready. The mission was the first time people tested a new way to send messages in space using laser technology through Starlink. SpaceX hopes this can make communication faster and better for future space trips.

Events

Soon after launch, the crew started a special breathing plan to lower nitrogen in their bodies. Over three days, the air pressure inside the capsule went down while oxygen went up.

During the first hour in space, the crew checked the Dragon capsule for any damage. Then, the capsule’s engines fired, sending them up to 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Earth—the highest any crew had gone at that time. This broke a record and was the farthest anyone had been from Earth since the 1972 Apollo 17 moon landing. Because earlier Apollo missions only had men, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis went farther from Earth than any women before them.

On the second day, the capsule’s highest point was lowered, and the crew got their space suits ready and did experiments. They also helped set a new record for the most people in space at the same time.

On the third day, the crew did the first-ever spacewalk on a commercial mission. After getting ready, all four crew members put on their space suits, and the whole capsule was opened to space. Only two crew members partly stepped out. The spacewalk took about 26 minutes and 40 seconds. Jared Isaacman went out first, followed by Sarah Gillis. At 30 years old, Gillis became the youngest person to do a spacewalk.

At the end of the mission, the crew let go of part of the capsule and fired the engines to come back to Earth. The capsule landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas islands on September 15, 2024.

Launch

To keep the crew safe from small space particles, the Polaris Dawn mission had a flexible launch time. This let mission controllers pick a moment when there was less space debris. The Dragon spaceship first went into an oval path around Earth, reaching up to 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) away. It also passed through an area with strong space radiation, which helped scientists study how space travel affects health.

Polaris Dawn took off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. The first try on August 27, 2024, was stopped because of a problem with helium on the ground. The next try on August 28 was also stopped because of bad weather that could affect the spaceship’s return. Since the spaceship wouldn’t meet the International Space Station and had limited supplies, good weather was needed for both launch and return.

By September 8, 2024, SpaceX planned to launch no earlier than September 10, with weather conditions looking 40% favorable. Polaris Dawn finally launched successfully on September 10, 2024, at 09:23:49 UTC (5:23:49 am EDT, local time).