First Spacewalk On Commercial Flight

The SpaceX Falcon 9 booster launched Polaris Dawn to low-earth orbit at 5:23 a.m. EDT September 10 from Launch Complex 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Falcon 9’s first stage separated from the rest of the spacecraft, it successfully landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dragon spacecraft carries a civilian crew of 4 led by commander Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur who privately funded the mission. The other crew members are his close friend and former U.S. Air Force pilot Lieut. Col. (Ret) Scott “Kidd” Poteet along with SpaceX operations engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon serving as mission specialists.

The mission involves some firsts for civilians, including a spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) and an orbit of over 850 miles, surpassing the record orbital height of Gemini 11 and reaching an altitude not attained by any astronauts since the days of NASA’s Apollo program.

For the EVA the astronauts will be wearing suits developed by SpaceX, and will be attempted on Thursday September 12 at approximately 2:23 a.m. EDT. A backup slot is available if needed, at the same time on Friday September 13.

This will be the second spaceflight for Isaacman, who previously flew as commander of the Inspiration4 mission. It also represents the first time employees of SpaceX are part of a human spaceflight crew.

 FMI:  www.spacex.com/