On Sunday 15 September, the capsule of the Polaris Dawn mission, orchestrated by the private astronautics and space flight company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, landed successfully in Florida after five days in orbit. A first in history.
This is a historic moment. On Tuesday 10 September, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although the Polaris Dawn mission was postponed for several days for technical and then meteorological reasons, it achieved all its objectives and landed on the water five days later. Let’s take a look back at this memorable week, which marked a significant step forward in private space exploration, but also in the conquest of space by civilians.
Who was on board?
The crew was made up of four members. The SpaceX crew included engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, who became the two women to have travelled furthest from Earth.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Scott Poteet, a former member of the US Air Force, was also present. After 20 years in the industry, he went on to become Director of Business Development at Draken International and Vice President of Strategy at the financial company Shift4. Most recently, he was mission director of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian space mission, which raised more than $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® to eradicate childhood cancer.
Another participant: Jared Isaacman, an American billionaire who is funding the Polaris programme, and who is also the boss of the aforementioned Shift4. Although the businessman is not a professional astronaut either, he has clocked up more than 7,000 flying hours as a pilot. He also holds a number of world records, including two circumnavigations of the globe in high-speed aircraft in 2008 and 2009. He was Commander of Inspiration4 and co-founded Draken International. Scott Poteet is a close associate of Jared Isaacman.
The roles were split as follows: Jared Isaacman was commander, Scott Poteet was pilot, Sarah Gillis was mission specialist and Anna Menon was mission specialist and doctor.
The crew trained for over two years to carry out the mission, named Polaris Dawn.
The first civilian spacewalk
Polaris Dawn was developed at the instigation of SpaceX, the private astronautics and space flight company launched by Elon Musk in 2002. Although the company has been criticised on numerous occasions, notably for its ambition to conquer Mars and the controversy caused by its founder, who is also the head of Tesla, it has now been hailed by… NASA. Bill Nelson, its boss, congratulated SpaceX, saying that the mission represented ‘a giant step forward for the commercial space industry’.
Mission Specialist @Gillis_SarahE is conducting the same series of suit mobility tests @rookisaacman completed pic.twitter.com/XbS6SNFv3a
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024
The great departure was awaited by the whole world. On Tuesday 10 September, the Crew Dragon capsule lifted off from Earth off the coast of Florida. A short time later, the spacecraft separated from its Falcon 9 launcher and, at the same time, reached zero gravity. The spacecraft ventured to an altitude of 1,400 kilometres. A figure that surpasses the Apollo lunar missions organised more than half a century ago.
In addition to the successful lift-off and acclimatisation of the spacecraft in this hostile environment for humans, the most significant event was the first civilian spacewalk conducted by a private company. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis performed a ten-minute spacewalk at an altitude of 700 kilometres, higher than the ISS. It should be noted that their lower bodies remained inside the capsule. The spacewalk provided an opportunity to test SpaceX’s extravehicular suits, with Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis performing a number of movements to try them out. Elon Musk’s company intends to develop these suits with a view to potentially colonising Mars one day.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
As the capsule had no airlock but a hatch, Scott Poteet and Anna Menon were inside the spacecraft, strapped into their seats. They were nevertheless exposed to the vacuum of space.
The first Polaris mission
This first mission marked the start of the Polaris space programme. In addition to this spacewalk, Polaris Dawn enabled 36 scientific and technological experiments to be carried out. Tests and analyses were conducted on high altitude, Starlink laser communications, stress and hazard management, and a great deal of research was carried out on the impact on health. The capsule landed successfully on Sunday 15 September. All the crew members are in good health.
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Two other missions will be carried out as part of this programme, including one in SpaceX’s Starship rocket, designed for journeys to the Moon and Mars.
Read also > Historic success of the Ariane 6 launch: the international race to the stars is relaunched
Featured photo: © Kamran Abdullayev – Unsplash
