2024-09-10 10:05:08
After several attempts, the privately owned mission “Polaris Dawn” launched into space on Tuesday morning. At 11:24 am Central European Summer Time, SpaceX’s manned Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifted off from the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida and took the Dragon Crew vehicle with a four-man crew led by American billionaire Jared Isaacman into orbit. About three minutes after the launch, the first stage of the rocket was broken at a height of 90 kilometers, which returned to Earth and landed perfectly on the boat in the Atlantic seven minutes later. The second step followed twelve minutes after launch: the second rocket stage exploded at a height of 220 kilometers. Meanwhile, the Dragon Crew spacecraft continued to fly and entered the intended orbit three minutes later.
The launch was originally supposed to take place on August 27th. However, it had to be postponed at short notice due to a helium leak and poor weather conditions. In addition, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned all Falcon 9 rockets from launching for several days, which was lifted four days later. The reason was a mishap during a Falcon 9 launch that was supposed to put several Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was successful, but the first rocket stage expired during landing and burst into flames. The Polaris Dawn mission was also affected by the launch. The FAA gave the “green light” on Saturday, August 31st. However, the launch of Polaris Dawn has been delayed until today.
The danger of space travel
The Polaris Dawn mission is expected to last a total of five days. The Dragon capsule with Isaacman as commander, pilot Scott Poteet and two SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon will fly into an elliptical orbit and travel about 1,400 kilometers from Earth. According to SpaceX, this is the longest distance that humans have traveled to Earth since the Apollo missions in the early 1970s. On the third day in space, a space mission, also known as a spacewalk, is planned at a height of 700 kilometers, which will be broadcast live on the Internet.
Since the Dragon capsule does not have an airlock, the interior of the entire spacecraft and therefore the crew will be exposed to the vacuum of space once the front hatch is opened. Two of the crew members will take turns to stay on board, while the other two leave the capsule – secured only by rope. Like any space travel, the project comes with risks. In addition, the four astronauts were exposed to ionizing radiation from the inner Van Allen belt at an altitude of 700 kilometers. The ring-shaped area that surrounds the Earth extends to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers. It consists mainly of high-energy protons that are trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field. During their space travel, astronauts wear special space suits developed by SpaceX, the protective effect of which is tested under real conditions for the first time.
Many experiments in Earth orbit
During their five-day mission, Isaacman and his three colleagues will conduct around 40 tests. Tests for laser communication between the spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite orbiting in space are also planned.
The four astronauts have completed intensive astronaut training for the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission. This includes 2,000 hours in an airplane, times in a centrifuge, intensive diving training, parachute jumps and a trip to the Cotopaxi volcano crater in Ecuador. He had been preparing for the adventure for two and a half years, Isaacman said before the start, funding the Polaris program, which includes a total of three missions, out of his own pocket. Isaacman himself has already participated in SpaceX’s first space flight in 2021. The astronaut and space enthusiast borrowed a rocket ship and a Dragon space capsule from SpaceX and stayed in Earth orbit with three companions for three days.
A second similar mission is planned as part of the Polaris program. The third mission will also be the first manned flight for SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket. This is still in development: after three failed attempts, he completed his first successful flight in May. In two years, Starship will land a man on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Extravehicular operations – dangerous routine
Field trips, or field trips, are also considered dangerous activities. To do this, the astronauts had to leave the safe environment of their spacecraft into the vacuum of space, protected only by a space suit. In addition, space travel is very difficult, in part because astronauts do not have spatial orientation in free space.
Since the first spacewalk on March 18, 1965 by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov from the Voskhod 2 spacecraft on a four-and-a-half-mile safety line, a total of 472 space missions have been made. The first American was NASA astronaut Edward H. White on June 3, 1965. During his 23-minute stay, he was connected to his Gemini 4 capsule by an eight-meter-long supply line. The first spacewalk without a safety tether was made by Bruce McCandless on February 7, 1984 during mission STS-41-B aboard the US space shuttle Challenger. With a jetpack, McCandless moved freely in space. The record for the longest stay in space was held by astronauts Susan Helms and James Voss. They spent nearly nine hours in space as part of the ISS mission in March 2001.
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