(Update 8/30): The U.S. has temporarily grounded SpaceX flights following the unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 rocket during a Starlink mission. Even if the restriction is lifted in time, the company has canceled the Aug. 30 window due to adverse weather conditions in the landing areas for the spacecraft after the mission.
SpaceX is preparing to launch four people into an 870-mile apogee orbit, the farthest from Earth any human has flown since the last Apollo mission in 1972. Get ready for the Polaris Dawn mission.
Two delays. Polaris Dawn has already faced two delays. The first delay occurred on Aug. 27 due to a helium leak in one of the umbilicals, which are the cables that run from the ground systems to the rocket. The second delay happened on Aug. 28, caused by bad weather in the areas off the Florida coast where the spacecraft could splash down.
The spacecraft is now ready for launch from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
How to watch the Polaris Down mission live. Assuming there are no further delays, the Polaris Dawn mission is scheduled to lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:38 a.m. ET on Aug. 30. SpaceX will begin a live broadcast three and a half hours before liftoff, and you’ll be able to follow the launch on its website and its official X profile.
Here are the launch times depending on where you’ll be watching from:
- New York/Miami/Boston/Detroit: Broadcast starts at 12:08 a.m. ET; liftoff at 3:38 a.m. ET
- Chicago/Houston/Dallas: Broadcast starts at 11:08 p.m. CT (Aug. 29); liftoff at 2:38 a.m. CT
- Salt Lake City/Boulder: Broadcast starts at 10:08 p.m. MDT (Aug. 29); liftoff at 1:38 a.m. MDT
- Phoenix: Broadcast starts at 9:08 p.m. MST (Aug. 29); liftoff at 12:38 a.m. MST
- Los Angeles: Broadcast starts at 8:08 p.m. PT (Aug. 29); liftoff at 11:38 p.m. PT (Aug. 29)
- Honolulu: Broadcast starts at 5:08 p.m. HST (Aug. 29); liftoff at 9:38 p.m. HST (Aug. 29)
Two additional time windows. If the rocket doesn’t lift off at 3:38 a.m. ET, SpaceX will have two more opportunities to launch within its four-hour window: at 5:24 a.m. ET and 7:09 a.m. ET. However, there’s a possibility of further delays because SpaceX is taking extensive precautions for this mission, which is considered riskier than usual.
The crew. The crew of Polaris Dawn consists of four members: commander Jared Isaacman, who previously flew in space as commander of Inspiration4 and has funded this mission; pilot Kidd Poteet; mission specialist Sarah Gillis; and mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon.
This mission marks the first time that SpaceX employees, in this case two female employees, will be part of a manned spaceflight crew.
Why this matters. The four astronauts will travel in the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft, which previously flew on NASA’s Crew-1 mission. SpaceX will launch the spacecraft to an altitude of 750 miles and will then climb to 870 miles using its engines.
During their five-day mission in orbit, the crew will achieve several milestones, including the first extravehicular activity of a commercial spaceflight: a spacewalk in the new EVA suits developed by SpaceX. Additionally, they’ll reach the highest altitude for a spaceflight since the Apollo program.
This mission is worth following not only because of the two-hour spacewalk, which will require depressurizing the entire cabin, but also because it’ll be the first spacecraft to test Starlink laser communications in space. We can expect to see some incredible live footage.
Image | Polaris (via Flickr)
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