Mission to Include Many Notable Firsts
KENNEDY
SPACE CENTER, Fla., Aug. 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Polaris Program, a test and
developmental program of new spaceflight technology, will usher in
a new era of commercial space exploration when SpaceX's Falcon 9
launches the program's first mission, Polaris Dawn, on Monday, August 26, 2024. This milestone mission
will include testing a next-generation spacesuit during the first
commercial spacewalk; endeavoring to achieve the highest altitude
of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program; and
testing a new communication system using Starlink. There will be a
special on-orbit reading of a children's book, Kisses from
Space, written by a crewmember; and much more. The four
crewmembers will also use their approximately five days on-orbit to
conduct nearly 40 critical health research experiments, all
while raising funds for St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital®.
"After more than two years of training, we are excited to embark
on this mission," said Jared
Isaacman, commander of the Polaris Dawn mission. "We are
incredibly thankful for this opportunity and to the thousands of
SpaceX engineers who have contributed to this endeavor. We hope the
results from our mission will accelerate SpaceX's vision to make
life multiplanetary and support St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital and its efforts to improve global survival rates for
childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Throughout
our mission, we will aim to inspire humankind to look up and
imagine what we can achieve here on Earth and in the worlds beyond
our own."
The Polaris Dawn crew includes:
-
- Jared Isaacman, Mission
Commander, is founder and CEO of Shift4, and also served as Mission
Commander of Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian
mission to space in 2021 that helped raise over $250 million for St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital. An accomplished aviator and adventurer from Pennsylvania, Isaacman is rated to fly
commercial and military aircraft and holds several world air
records, including two Speed-Around-The-World flights;
- Scott "Kidd" Poteet,
Mission Pilot, is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant
Colonel and his 20 years in the service included Commander of the
64th Aggressor Squadron, USAF Thunderbird #4 Demonstration Pilot,
Operational Test & Evaluation Pilot, and Flight Examiner.
Poteet previously served as
mission director for Inspiration4. A runner and triathlete,
New Hampshire native, Poteet has completed 15 Ironman Triathlons
since 2000, including four Ironman World Championships in
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii;
- Sarah Gillis, Mission
Specialist, is a Colorado native
who is a Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, where she is
responsible for overseeing the company's astronaut training
program. A classically trained violinist, Gillis began as an intern
for SpaceX in 2015, and worked on human-in-the-loop testing of the
Dragon spacecraft. Her mentor, former NASA astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, first encouraged her to study
aerospace engineering at the University of
Colorado Boulder. Inspired by her experience as a musician,
Gillis has developed a curriculum, A Musician's Guide to Reaching
for the Stars, in collaboration with El Sistema USA, that encourages students to reach for
their dreams and discover the connections between music, creativity
and exploration; and
- Anna Menon, Mission
Specialist and Medical Officer, is a Lead Space Operations Engineer
at SpaceX, where she manages the development of crew operations and
serves in Mission Control as both a Mission Director and Crew
Communicator. Menon resides in Houston and is married to newly minted NASA
astronaut Anil Menon. She has written a children's
book, Kisses from Space, which was inspired by her
experience preparing for the Polaris Dawn mission and her desire to
share her spaceflight experience with her two young children. She
will read it from space during the mission and proceeds from her
sales of the book will benefit St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital®. Kisses from Space is now available in
bookstores nationwide and wherever books are available online.
The Polaris Dawn crew will leverage Falcon 9's and Dragon's
maximum performance to endeavor to reach several milestones for
commercial spaceflight, including:
- Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and
reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown while moving through
portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an orbital altitude of
190 x 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Earth's surface – or more
than three times higher than the International Space Station. This
will be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in
more than a half-century since the Apollo program;
- Attempting the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This will take
place at an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles)
above Earth in newly developed SpaceX EVA spacesuits. During the
spacewalk, the crew will conduct a series of tests that will
provide necessary data that will allow SpaceX teams to produce and
scale for future long-duration missions. The crew worked with
SpaceX engineers throughout suit development, testing various
iterations for mobility and performance (along with mobility aids
and systems procedures), and conducted operations inside vacuum
chambers to validate pre-breathe protocols and the readiness of the
EVA suit;
- Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links
between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites,
revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;
- Conducting nearly 40 experiments for critical scientific
research designed to advance our knowledge of human health
both on Earth and during future long-duration space flights.
The Polaris Dawn crew is in the final stages after more than two
years of essential training activities preparing them for the
landmark mission. This training has included centrifuge operations,
hundreds of hours of Dragon simulations, skydiving, survival
training, high performance aircraft piloting, Zero-G flight
training and altitude training, as well as classroom academics and
medical testing. Additionally, and especially important for Polaris
Dawn, the crew received extensive EVA training, both underwater and
suspended operations, as well as the associated medical
training.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® is the
official charitable partner of Polaris Dawn and fundraising for St.
Jude will be integrated into various aspects of the mission.
DORITOS®, a PepsiCo Foods brand, is making a significant
donation to St. Jude and will join this historic mission. IWC
Schaffhausen will also support the mission through its specially
designed and donated Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "Polaris
Dawn" watch, which will be worn on the flight before being
auctioned to benefit St. Jude.
Additional details will be revealed leading up to, during, and
after the mission via the Polaris Dawn website and social media
channels, including other first-of-their-kind events to be held and
shared while in orbit.
About Polaris Dawn
Polaris Dawn is the first of three
human spaceflights under the Polaris Program. The program is named
after Polaris, a constellation of three stars more commonly known
as the North Star, which has been a guiding light throughout human
history to help us navigate the world and inspire progress. The
mission is in support of St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital®. To learn more about Polaris Dawn,
visit https://polarisprogram.com/dawn/ and follow the mission
on X (@PolarisProgram), and Instagram (@PolarisProgram).
Press Contact:
media@polarisprogram.com
Photos for media usage:
Polaris Program Photos on
Flickr
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SOURCE Polaris Program