The planned launch of a privately chartered spaceflight featuring the first commercial spacewalk has been delayed due to predicted bad off-shore weather where the crew capsule will splash down at the end of the flight. SpaceX announced that the Polaris Dawn launch has been postponed until at least Friday, pending weather conditions. Mission commander Jared Isaacman emphasized the importance of ensuring favorable reentry weather before launching due to limited life support consumables and no space station rendezvous. The company is monitoring conditions day by day to wait for the best opportunity to ensure success.
The historic Polaris Dawn flight had already been delayed two days due to ground launch processing issues. Liftoff had been targeted for 3:38 a.m. EDT on Wednesday but was delayed again after mission managers reviewed the forecast and deemed it unfavorable for Dragon’s splashdown areas off the coast of Florida. SpaceX stated that they will continue to monitor weather conditions for favorable launch and return conditions. The crew for the Polaris Dawn mission includes former F-16 pilot Scott Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. They plan to launch into a highly elliptical orbit that will take them higher than any astronauts have flown since the Apollo moon program.
Isaacman is funding three more SpaceX flights in cooperation with Elon Musk, with the Polaris Dawn mission being the first ever featuring non-government civilian spacewalks. The crew will use a scaffold called the “Skywalker” to take turns floating up through the Crew Dragon’s forward hatch into open space, connected by tethers. The primary goals of this demonstration include testing the new suit’s joints, mobility, and comfort to help SpaceX develop lower-cost spacesuits for future spacefarers. In addition to the spacewalks, the crew will test a high-speed laser communications system and carry out a battery of biomedical experiments throughout the five-day flight.
Isaacman founded one of the nation’s leading credit card transaction processors and previously financed and commanded the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-civilian commercial flight to orbit. The Polaris Dawn mission marks the first of three more SpaceX flights he is funding. Despite the delays, Isaacman expressed readiness to wait for the right moment for the launch and thanked supporters who have traveled to witness it. The crew’s journey will involve unprecedented milestones, such as civilian spacewalks and testing innovative technologies to pave the way for future space exploration missions to the moon and Mars.
The crew plans to test the capabilities of the SpaceX-designed pressure suits during their spacewalks. Even though Poteet and Menon will not be venturing outside the spacecraft, they will be considered among the world’s spacewalkers. The crew will conduct a range of biomedical experiments to further researchers’ understanding of the effects of weightlessness. They will also test a high-speed laser communications system and gather data to help SpaceX engineers develop spacesuits that are cost-effective and efficient for larger numbers of people. The Polaris Dawn mission is a crucial step towards expanding access to space and conducting scientific research in low-Earth orbit.
