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SpaceX was ready for take-off.
In a boundary-pushing endeavor, the private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company launched a four-person crew Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch was live-streamed on X—the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk purchased in 2022—by the California-based space firm.
Here’s what to know about the mission, known as Polaris Dawn.
Who Was in the Four-Person Crew?
The four-person crew includes billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4, who is financing the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
The crew members rode to orbit in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
Jared, Kidd, Sarah, and Anna walking down the crew arm ahead of entering Dragon pic.twitter.com/o0HCKwFhJW
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 10, 2024
“As you gaze towards the North Star, remember that your courage lights the path for future explorers. We trust your skills, your bravery, and your teamwork to carry out the mission that lies ahead,” SpaceX launch director Frank Messina said to the crew from ground control.
“Know that the entire team back here is with you every step, watching, supporting, and cheering you on as you walk into space. We’re sending you hugs from the ground.”
Shortly after the capsule reached orbit, Isaacman—who previously funded and participated in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021—thanked everyone who supported the mission and came out to watch the liftoff.
“We appreciate it. We’re going to get to work now,” he radioed to mission controllers on the ground.
What’s the Purpose of the Mission?
The five-day mission is set to include the first spacewalk conducted by an all-civilian crew and is designed to take them to the highest orbital altitude reached by humans since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface.
While in space, the crew will test new spacesuits and technologies that could pave the way for future long-duration missions to the moon and eventually Mars.
The @PolarisProgram astronaut mission is headed for an altitude 3 times higher than the Space Station, the furthest that humans have been from Earth in over half a century! pic.twitter.com/lYgsA5vMGk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 10, 2024
In a post-launch statement on X, the Polaris Dawn crew described their ambitious goals.
“Our collective interest in space should neither be too big to fail nor too costly to succeed,” the crew members wrote. “It should be an enduring effort to unlock the mysteries of the universe and, in the process, make life better here on Earth. As we embark on our journey today, know that we wish all of you Godspeed as we explore together.
The spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday at 2:23 a.m. ET and will be streamed live by SpaceX. There is a backup spacewalk opportunity on Friday if needed.
Watch Dragon’s first spacewalk with the @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn crew https://t.co/svdJRkGN7K
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024
The first commercial spacewalk took place on Thursday, September 12. A livestream by Space X, available to watch on their website and on X, commenced at 6:12 a.m. ET where Isaacman, Gillis, Menon, and Poteet took on the mission. In a clip shared by the Polaris Program on X, it was heard by the 41-year-old CEO of Shift4 Payments in the livestream that, “SpaceX, back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” The four crew members are set to return on Sunday, September 15.
