Space Xa space exploration company led by Elon Muskscheduled the launch of the mission Polaris Dawn for the next August 26th. Its objective will be to test a next-generation spacesuit, In addition to being the first private spacewalk in history.
On board the aircraft you will find the billionaire Jared Isaacmanwho self-funded a mission to orbit the Earth in 2021. Also in attendance will be former US Air Force pilot, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Anna Menon, as a medical officer, and Sarah Gillisas a flight mission specialist.
SpaceX’s next mission
The crew of Polaris Dawn will search Taking full advantage of the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule – developed by SpaceX – to try to achieve several milestones in commercial space flights. The first of all is that Isaacman managed to make the first private spacewalk in history.
For this, astronauts will use the new SpaceX EVA spacesuits. During the walk, the crew will also perform a series of tests that will provide the necessary data for the company led by Musk to produce and scale for future long-duration missions
On the other hand, it will also be sought fly higher than any Dragon mission to date and achieve the highest Earth orbit ever achieved. In total, the astronauts will be at a distance of more than three times higher than the International Space Station, reaching the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in more than half a century since the Apollo program.
The mission also proposes Testing laser-based satellite communicationwhich will use optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites. According to SpaceX, this will revolutionize the “speed and quality of space communications“.
Finally, almost all of them will be carried out 40 Critical Scientific Research ExperimentsThese studies aim to advance knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration space flights.
Who is Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who will walk in space?
Jared Isaacman He is 41 years old and is the CEO of Shift4a company dedicated to payment processingThe businessman is also passionate about flying: he is a pilot with more than 7,000 hours of flight time logged, including qualifications in multiple experimental and ex-military aircraft.
Isaacman got several world records In this matter, among which are included two speed flights around the world in 2008 and 2009. In total, the billionaire flew in more than 100 air shows as part of the Black Diamond Jet Team.
Isaacman.avif
@rookisaacman / X
In 2011, the pilot co-founded what would become the world’s largest private air force: Draken International. Just eight years later, in 2019, Isaacman sold a majority stake to the Wall Street firm Blackstone for a multi-million dollar sum. According to his profile as a businessman in Forbes magazine, the American has a fortune that amounts to US$1.9 billion.
Today, his flagship company, Shift4, employs about 600 people. The company, which Isaacman founded at age 16, has more than 200 thousand clients from various industries such as hospitality, retail, sports, entertainment and more.
On the challenges he will face in his next space missionthe pilot told local media: “The only thing that comes close to that is the vacuum chamberand that’s where you feel almost as close as if you were in vacuum conditions or in space (…) That definitely gives you the real sensations of pressure and temperature changes, as well as well as the psychological stressors of being in a very hostile environment”.
Source: Ambito
