Astronomers reach the highest orbit in 50 years
- After launching on Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the crew managed to climb 870 kilometers above the earth.
- For Polaris Dawn mission scientists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, these two astronauts have traveled further from the planet than any other woman has ever been.
- Ahead of the crew is still an autonomous space launch, which SpaceX said will take place on Thursday.
The four astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission have now traveled further in space than any human has traveled in more than half a century.
After launching Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the crew managed to rise to 870 kilometers above Earth, the company announced on its website public domain X. Longitude is the highest space flight since NASA’s Apollo era. end in the 1970s.
For Polaris Dawn mission experts Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, the milestone came with more history: The two astronauts have now traveled farther from the planet than any other woman has ever been.
Under the leadership of billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, the commercial team of the ambitious Polaris Dawn mission is now in its second of five days in orbit. Ahead of them is a private space launch, which SpaceX said is on track to take place on Thursday.
Isaacman, who sponsored the mission through SpaceX, will also lead the crew to test SpaceX technology that could be important for future space exploration.
Also check out Polaris Dawn launch:The video shows a SpaceX rocket launching a 4-member crew for a daring commercial mission
The Polaris Dawn mission begins after a delay
The Polaris Dawn crew was finally able to launch Tuesday after a triple-delayed flight.
In the pre-dawn hours, the SpaceX Dragon capsule sat atop a Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off at 5:23 a.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 5:40 a.m., the Dragon spacecraft separated from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 and began to use its cables to operate, SpaceX said X.
The much-anticipated announcement followed a delay of more than two weeks as SpaceX waited for the right time to schedule a launch opportunity.
Once out of Earth’s atmosphere, it was a few hours before the crew reached an altitude more than three times higher than the International Space Station. The altitude was not only the highest for people to reach 50 years, but also the highest level that the SpaceX Dragon has flown so far, SpaceX said on the same day.
The ascent took the Polaris Dawn crew through the treacherous inner reaches of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, which astronauts will have to traverse on future missions to the moon and Mars. After the spacecraft reached 870 kilometers above the Earth, the dragon had to descend to a cruising altitude of 435 kilometers above the Earth.
Once en route, crews were able to remove their spacesuits and begin preparing for the tests and experiments they hope to conduct during the mission, SpaceX said. Two hours into the flight, they had their first meal and began testing a new laser-based satellite communication system using Starlink.
Preparing to travel in a dangerous area
The Polaris Dawn crew, which includes pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, also began preparations Tuesday for what could be a milestone in the mission: The first commercial space flight of the internet.
Until now, space travel has been as much a part of government astronomy as NASA’s missions. In addition, complex orbital maneuvers often occur in vehicles with airlocks that do not require pressurizing the entire capsule.
But because the Dragon does not have a vent, the entire spacecraft will have to depressurize when the hatch is opened. When that happens, the entire crew will be exposed to empty space and will need to wear extravehicular suits (EVA) made by SpaceX to receive oxygen through tethers.
Shortly after liftoff, the Dragon’s pressure began to slowly drop as the oxygen levels in the cabin increased, helping to remove nitrogen from the crew members’ blood. The protocol is intended to prepare them for space travel and lower the risk of illness, SpaceX said.
Time to travel in the Polaris Dawn space
SpaceX plans for the spacewalk to take place at 2:23 am EDT. If necessary, the opportunity to save money is available at the same time on Friday.
The online game will start about an hour before the online game at site X.
What is the role of Polaris Dawn?
Polaris Dawn is the first of three human flights under the Polaris Program, all of which are intended to test SpaceX’s technologies needed to take humans deep into the universe.
Isaacman, the founder of the online company Shift4 Payment who helped fund the project along with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is the only member of the Polaris Dawn crew who has been to space before. Menon and Gillis are also now the first SpaceX crew to travel to space.
Years in the making, the launch was recently canceled due to bad weather forecast for the crew to return to Earth. Because Dragon is not stationed at the International Space Station, its crew will rely on oxygen and supplies they have stored in space, which is only enough for about a week, Isaacman explained earlier on the public website X.
As a result, SpaceX waited a few days for the weather to improve on the coast of Florida, where the crew will arrive on the sixth day of their mission.
Eric Lagatta covers USA TODAY’s best and most popular news. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
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