SpaceX announces the Polaris program: three missions, the first of which,Polaris Dawn, to take place at the end of 2022. The objective: to carry out the very first commercial spacewalk, organized by a company.
There was the Inspiration4 mission, which consisted of organizing a space mission with only civilians on board – none being a seasoned professional astronaut. There will now be the Polaris Dawn mission, which this time plans to complete the first-ever spacewalk (“EVA”) with a civilian. Clearly, a commercial EVA, organized by a company: SpaceX.
Polaris Dawn turns out to be the first of a series of three missions. ” The program will include up to three human spaceflight missions that will demonstrate new technologies, conduct extensive research and lead to the first flight of SpaceX’s Starship with humans on board “, is it announcement on February 14, 2022.
Polaris Dawn: First-Ever Private EVA
For this first part, there will not be a Starship – it is not yet ready, even if the construction site is progressing –, but a Falcon 9 rocket with, at its top, a Crew Dragon habitable capsule. Four people will board for a flight that is scheduled for somewhere in the fourth quarter of 2022. And at least one of them will have to go out in space.
The four participants in Polaris Dawn include Jared Isaacman, who will serve as mission commander. Jared Isaacman is no longer a novice: he went into space with the Inspiration4 mission, which he already commanded. The American, an entrepreneur who made his fortune in online payment, provided most of the financing for the Inspiration4 flight.
He will be accompanied by a man, Scott Poteet, who will be the mission pilot, and two women, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both mission specialists and, for the latter, a medical officer. The two women are engineers at SpaceX, while Scott Poteet is a veteran of the Air Force, which he left after 20 years of service at the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
” Polaris Dawn aims to fly higher than any Dragon mission to date and will strive to reach the highest Earth orbit ever “, announces the Twitter account of the project. This means that the Crew Dragon spacecraft would, for example, exceed geostationary orbit, which is nearly 36,000 kilometers away from Earth.
Thus, it is a question of taking the capsule to the Van Allen belts (or Van Allen radiation belts), which are between 700 km and 10,000 km in altitude for the inner belt and between 13,000 km and 65,000 km altitude for the outer belt. It will also be an opportunity to conduct studies on the effects of radiation.
” Orbiting through portions of the Van Allen Radiation Belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research to better understand the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health “, is it announced. It will also be an opportunity to carry out various tests, in particular laser communication, which could be used for the Starlink satellite network.
The spacewalk would take place at a much lower altitude – around 500 kilometers high (which is above the active orbit in which the International Space Station is located). This first so-called “commercial” spacewalk will be an opportunity to test SpaceX’s space suits, ” which have been improved compared to those used indoors.
And after Polaris Dawn? Two other Polaris missions are expected, starting in 2023. The first will consist of carrying out manned missions even further into space, for experimental purposes (scientific research, but also communication). The second will be used to perform the first manned flight of the Starship, which will replace all SpaceX rockets.