The Polaris Dawn crew is set to conduct the first commercial spacewalk, focusing on human health research in space.
On July 4th, the American space travel company SpaceX announced that it will carry out the Polaris Dawn commercial flight into space this July.
SpaceX plans a commercial flight with spacewalk activities. (Source: SpaceX).
This is the first commercial flight featuring a spacewalk by civilian astronauts.
The mission will utilize the Dragon spacecraft to take a crew of astronauts, including American billionaire Jared Isaacman, into Earth’s orbit. The spacecraft will remain in orbit for approximately five days.
The Polaris Dawn crew aims to conduct the first commercial spacewalk, investigate human health in space, and perform experiments to equip Starlink WiFi on the spacecraft.
SpaceX also aims to achieve a high orbit about 700 km from Earth during this flight. This will be the highest orbit reached by a crewed flight since the Apollo missions that conquered the Moon.
The Polaris Dawn mission is funded by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of the e-commerce company Shift4 Payments. This will be the second flight that takes only civilian astronauts into space.
In September 2021, Isaacman traveled to space with three others on a 3-day mission named “Inspiration4.”
This commercial flight aims to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, USA.
