According to CNN, the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts successfully landed off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, at 3:37 AM on September 15 (Eastern Time).
The Polaris Dawn Mission has made history by reaching a higher altitude than any humans have achieved in the last five decades. The spacewalk conducted on the morning of September 12 also marked the first time a mission of this nature was completed by a team of private astronauts.
During the space mission, returning to Earth was assessed as one of the most dangerous phases.
To safely return home, the Crew Dragon spacecraft had to undergo the “orbital burn” process, penetrating the thickest part of Earth’s atmosphere.
During this process, the spacecraft reached extreme temperatures—up to 1,900 degrees Celsius—due to the pressure and friction caused by its interaction with the air while still traveling at approximately 27,000 km/h. The mission for the astronauts at this point was to maintain a comfortable temperature using the heat shield of the Crew Dragon, located at the bottom of the 4-meter-wide cabin. The drag from the air would begin to slow the vehicle before Crew Dragon deployed its parachutes to reduce the descent speed.
After touching down on the ocean’s surface, rescue teams were on standby to respond, pulling the spacecraft from the water. Before the astronauts exited the craft, assessment teams would perform safety evaluations and eventually bring the astronauts back to shore.
The Historic Spacewalk
The crew involved in the Polaris Dawn mission included Commander Jared Isaacman, billionaire and CEO of Shift4 Payments; former U.S. Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX operations engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.
The “quadruple” of astronauts kicked off this mission by breaking the record for the highest altitude in space, reaching an orbit around Earth extending to 1,400 km. This is the highest Earth orbit ever reached by humans, breaking the record set by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission in 1966, which was 1,373 km.
The farthest point from Earth made astronauts Gillis and Menon the first women to fly farther from the blue planet than ever before.
This journey also marked the farthest human journey since NASA’s Apollo program ended in 1972.
After achieving record altitude, the Crew Dragon spacecraft descended to conduct the spacewalk. Billionaire Isaacman and astronaut Gillis exited the spacecraft for about 10 minutes, performing a series of tests to understand the functionality of the EVA spacesuit before retreating back inside the spacecraft. The spacewalk occurred without any major issues reported.
Astronaut Gillis outside in space. (Photo: SpaceX).
The remainder of the crew’s time in orbit was dedicated to conducting nearly 40 scientific experiments and studies, including several aimed at better understanding space adaptation syndrome.
The successful splashdown on September 15 marked the conclusion of the third space journey for the Crew Dragon.
This spacecraft—previously named “Resilience” by NASA astronauts—made its first trip to space in November 2020 and completed a second mission called Inspiration 4 in 2021. The 2021 mission, funded by billionaire Isaacman, involved him and three crew members orbiting Earth for three days as part of a fundraising effort for pediatric cancer research.
