SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew takes tour of NASA facilities ahead of historic private mission

The Crew of Polaris Dawn, SpaceX’s second-ever fully private mission, visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Cape Canaveral in Florida ahead of their historic voyage later this year. Consisting of four members, the crew visited the facilities for further training and familiarisation with Launch Complex 39A, launch day suit-up facilities and water recovery vessels. 

The Polaris Dawn mission, which is part of the Polaris Program, was announced by billionaire founder and CEO of Shift4 payments, Jared Isaacman earlier this year. Isaacman, who will serve as mission commander, will be accompanied by Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis and Scott Poteet. Notably, Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions under the program and will script history on multiple fronts.

First, it would be the highest-ever crewed orbital mission as the crew members will spend five days at an altitude of 1,400 km and second, will see the first all-private spacewalk by astronauts in new SpaceX spacesuits apart from conducting 35 in-orbit experiments. 

"It was great to be back at KSC for LC-39A pad & water survival training. The visit brought back a lot of great memories from nearly a year ago", Isaacman tweeted. "I am really appreciative of the SpaceX and Polaris Program team for the support and getting us ready for our mission". 

During the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture air show in late July, Isaacman revealed that the second all-private mission by SpaceX is targeted for launch somewhere in December this year. The first was the four-day-long Inspiration-4 mission, which launched in September last year and was also commanded by the billionaire. So far, the team has undergone extensive training for their orbital flight and has practiced their durability through mountain climbing and scuba diving along with learning emergency medical procedures. 

More about the Polaris Program

Similar to Inspiration-4, which managed to raise $250 million for St. Jude's children's hospital, the Polaris Program will work along the same lines while promoting private space trips. Under this program, Isaacman and team will aim to raise money for children and other important causes on Earth. Interestingly, the third mission of Polaris, which is targeted no earlier than 2023, will see the first manned flight of SpaceX's gigantic Starship rocket.