About 7 hours before launch, Musk's SpaceX's "craziest" mission of the year has been announced to be postponed.
On the evening of August 26th local time, SpaceX cancelled the Polaris Dawn spacewalk launch mission originally scheduled for August 27th.
Helium leak causes mission delay
On the evening of August 26th local time, SpaceX postponed the launch of a rocket carrying four astronauts. It is reported that SpaceX originally planned to use the Falcon 9 carrier rocket to carry out the mission codenamed "Polaris Dawn" at Launch Pad 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The launch time was originally scheduled for 3:38 am Eastern Time on August 27th.
One of SpaceX's chief engineers, Sarah Gillis, stated in a post on social media that the launch was originally scheduled for early Tuesday morning but was postponed due to the need to check for helium leaks on the ground side.
(Sarah Gillis social media source: X)
Musk has stated twice in a row on his social media that he is conducting a triple check on everything to ensure that the team cannot do anything more to improve the safety of the crew. He said, "An outstanding team has put in incredible effort for this historic mission. Let's make Starfleet Academy a reality
(Musk's social media source: X)
SpaceX has stated that the next launch window will not be earlier than August 28th. The current plan is to launch the "Polaris Dawn" rocket into low Earth orbit at 3:38 am Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 28th. There are two launch opportunities within four hours of the scheduled time, at 5:23 AM Eastern Time and 7:09 AM Eastern Time. If necessary, there will be a backup launch opportunity on Thursday, August 29th at the same time.
Billionaires participate
It is understood that the mission, named Polaris Dawn, was piloted by billionaire Jared Isakman, who entered orbit with SpaceX in 2021 and provided funding for the flight and its development. Accompanying him on the flight were two SpaceX chief engineers - Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, as well as Isaac Mann's friend and former Air Force pilot Kidd Potit.
(4 astronauts involved in the mission source: X)
According to the previous plan, the iconic moment of this mission will occur on the third day of the flight, when Isaac Mann and Gillis plan to step out of an open hatch of the manned Dragon spacecraft and conduct their own spacewalks. The two will go out separately, each time for about 15 to 20 minutes. Although only Gillis and Isaacman will leave the spacecraft, all crew members will wear SpaceX's new spacesuits as the entire interior of the Dragon spacecraft will be exposed to the vacuum of space to perform operations. The entire process, from expelling the air from the spacecraft to resealing the spacecraft, takes about two hours.
Although the main focus of this mission is spacewalks, the Polaris Dawn program will carry out some secondary objectives and break some space records. The first stage of the flight will enable the Dragon spacecraft to reach an altitude of 870 miles (1400 kilometers) from Earth, which is the farthest distance humans have flown into space since the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon. If the mission is successful, both Menon and Gillis will become the record holders for the farthest female flight from Earth.
Due to the long flight distance of astronauts, they will be exposed to much higher radiation environments than most astronauts experience when traveling to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. This will enable SpaceX to collect key research on how the space environment affects the human body.
Meanwhile, SpaceX also plans to demonstrate its Starlink service during the flight. The "launcher" installed inside the spacecraft will try to connect to the Starlink Internet satellite to test the connectivity that may be used for future missions.
Musk has previously stated that this will be an epic feat. He described this mission as an "early pioneer of the interstellar age", and if the project progresses smoothly, it will rely on relevant technology to send hundreds of people to Earth orbit, the moon, and even Mars in the future.
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