SpaceX Company, Somehow Not America’s Worst Space Companyhas long had big plans for its missions. From spacewalk ARRIVE kill the International Space StationThe company seems to have always been interested in unprecedented stunts. Now, SpaceX is following up on that spacewalk plan with another one: taking tourists 870 miles above Earth, without an airlock.
The Polaris Dawn mission is set to launch next Monday, August 26. The mission has a few different goals: First, to reach an altitude of 870 miles—the highest altitude for a manned spaceflight since the Apollo program. Second, to do a spacewalk at an altitude of 435 miles to test SpaceX’s new spacesuit. Third, to test some communication with Starlink satellites, and finally, some passenger health testing.
The most exciting thing is the Dragon capsule used for the flight. there will be no air cavity between the crew and the vacuum of space to maintain pressure throughout the spacewalk. Instead, the entire capsule will be slowly depressurized over the course of 45 hours as passengers prepare to exit the canister. This is not a standard approach, and will be an exciting event as the nearly two-day countdown begins.
The Polaris Dawn mission will be led by Jared Isaacmana guy who once created a payment processor and now owns a private military jet fleet, and is sponsored by Doritos. This is how spaceflight will work in 2024. Again, this is somehow better than whatever Boeing is doing.
