Since it was first announced last February, I've been keeping an eye out on the "dribs and drabs" of information coming out about the Polaris Dawn mission and the first private or commercial space walk. SpaceX is again launching a Jared Isaacman-led crew for a mission, this time with two goals; in addition to the space walk, they intend for Polaris Dawn to be the highest Earth orbit humans have traveled to since the 1960s and the furthest humans have been from the planet since the last Apollo mission in 1972. In Earth orbit, the record – 1368 kilometers (850 mi) – was set by Gemini XI in September 1966.
We learned today that the mission, which had been set for "before the end of '22" has slipped out three months to No Earlier Than March of '23.
Polaris Dawn "will take advantage of Falcon 9 and Dragon's maximum performance, flying higher than any Dragon mission to date and endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown," Polaris Program representatives wrote in a mission description (opens in new tab). "Orbiting through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research with the aim of better understanding the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health."
The mission will also feature the first commercial spacewalk, which will be performed at an altitude of about 435 miles (700 kilometers), if all goes according to plan. For perspective: The International Space Station orbits an average of about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
Isaacman and his three crewmates also aim to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, a key goal of Inspiration4 as well.
As of now, this is expected to be launched from pad 39A, as it's the only one that can support crew access to the Dragon Capsule, at least until they update pad 40 as we talked about back in June.
Polaris Dawn crew, (L-R) Anna Menon, Mission Specialist & Medical Officer; Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Pilot; Jared “Rook” Isaacman, Mission Commander; Sarah Gillis, Mission Specialist. Isaccman and Poteet are both executives at Shift4 as well as extremely qualified pilots; Gillis and Menon are both engineers with SpaceX on the manned spaceflight side. More detailed biographies of the four at the bottom of the mission page. More extensive background story and interviews with each of the four at Space.com.
I wonder how much of the slippage is due to fat federal fingers in the pie, and to the new EVA suit which info seems to have fallen out of the news.
ReplyDeleteCuriouser and curiouser.
Remember the maxim; space is hard.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, I remain somewhat astonished that for millennia, man has yearned to fly. Far less than 100 yrs after powered flight controllable in three axis, government has actively sought to squash the ability to fly. The various ways would take a book to explain.
The various ways might take a book to explain but the basic premises is to restrict freedom of movement. There are some caveats to that because we don't want people flying and killing themselves or others for a full book of reasons.
DeleteThere was a saying in the aviation biz that the FAA rules were written in blood. Things were pretty much unchanged until some major accident and loss of life caused them to go into action. Typical big-organization inertia followed by overreaction, or "never let a crisis go to waste?" It honestly can be hard to tell.
DeleteFor example, there had been talk about systems to prevent air-to-air collisions since the 1950s, but in 1978 a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight (I think it was a Boeing 727) approaching San Diego airport hit a four seat Cessna causing massive loss of life. That led to an immediate "do something" response and the modern TCAS system (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). Those are now required on pretty much any commercial aircraft.
Like most of these laws, they only apply in "controlled" air space, or around the major airports. It restricts your movement by keeping you out of those air spaces. Is it a side effect of making air travel safer for the commercial air travel business, or a subtle way to restrict your mobility?
I have to make the admission that I am a pilot and hold an Airline Transport Pilot license. So I have some bias regarding what training and experience it takes to fly an airplane and not kill one's self or others.
DeleteThe FAA has often tried to restrict general aviation in favor of big commercial operators. In the 1990s, there was a failed attempt to create a nearly impenetrable wall of airspace from DFW through San Antonio. It would have required over $10,000 dollars worth of avionics in a Piper Cub to fly through the airspace. It fortunately failed at the time. The big airlines have long wanted to get rid of general aviation; they think that it "steals" money from them. Since I haven't been active for some years, I understand that the price and requirements for similar equipment has decreased and is now required in some high traffic areas. Is it safety or is it restriction to movement? You gain "safety" by restriction of movement.
Flying into San Diego in 1979 (on an USCG HU-16 as flight mech) was exciting as we were all aware of the earlier mid-air.
DeleteHow long did the FAA keep SpaceX on hold for the environmental review? That action happened after the new regime took over, looks political.