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Historic Polaris Dawn mission begins final preparations for Tuesday’s launch

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SpaceX has completed the final preparations for Tuesday’s historic Polaris Dawn mission that will see four non-professional astronauts take a Crew Dragon spacecraft further from Earth than ever before and also conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk.

Sunday’s work included test firing the engines on the Falcon 9 rocket that will carry the Crew Dragon to orbit, while the four-person crew donned their spacesuits and entered the spacecraft atop the rocket stationed on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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SpaceX shared various images of the test firing and also of the crew in their gear and inside the Crew Dragon.

pic.twitter.com/GQ6GCyUc9p

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 25, 2024

More photos from Polaris Dawn and SpaceX’s full rehearsal of launch day activities → https://t.co/zktZ1R453H pic.twitter.com/0yHIya7fJP

— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) August 25, 2024

The crew includes billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, who will be embarking on his second trip to space following his first flight as part of the Inspiration4 mission in 2021.

Traveling alongside him will be Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, both lead space operations engineers at SpaceX. All three will be flying to space for the first time.

On their way to the capsule as part of Sunday’s rehearsal, Isaacman posted a photo of one of the crew members hitting the “space” button inside the elevator that takes astronauts to the top of the launch tower at Kennedy.

“Dry dress and static fire test complete,” Isaacman wrote, adding: “We are ready.”

Dry dress and static fire test complete. We are ready. https://t.co/ELsY4Kxg21 pic.twitter.com/DptPQq3KWR

— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) August 25, 2024

Expected to last about five days, the Polaris Dawn crew will spend their time carrying out various science-based activities, though the main focus will be on the first commercial spacewalk, which will be undertaken by Isaacman and Gillis. The highly anticipated spacewalk will also see the pair trying out a newly designed spacesuit that could be used for upcoming missions to the moon and beyond.

The historic walk will take place about 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth, a distance that’s some 185 miles (298 kilometers) higher than the ISS, which is the usual destination for the Crew Dragon.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk recently described the Polaris Dawn mission as “epic,” noting that this will be the furthest from Earth that any crew has flown since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

Fancy watching the live coverage of Tuesday’s launch? Digital Trends has all the information you need.

Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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