(CNN) – SpaceX’s latest mission, a risky and audacious journey to Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts with a crew of four civilians who will also attempt the first commercial spacewalk, has just taken off.
The mission, named Polaris Dawn, took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. Eastern Time.
This launch comes after several weather delays in late August and early Tuesday morning hampered the Polaris Dawn crew’s efforts to take off.
As the countdown clock hit zero, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket roared to life, sending blinding fire and a deafening explosion across the launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The crew rode atop the rocket, strapped inside an igloo-shaped SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which measures about 4 meters at its base, as the rocket drifts away from the clutches of Earth’s gravity.
The mission, named Polaris Dawn, was scheduled to take off at 3:38 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. Due to bad weather on the platform, SpaceX has decided not to launch at its first opportunity this Tuesday morning, but will try again at the second scheduled time. The new launch time is 5:23 a.m. Eastern Time.
“Due to unfavorable weather conditions at the launch site, the target is now 5:23 a.m. ET for Falcon 9 to launch @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn mission into orbit,” SpaceX posted on X.
At the time of the time change, propellant had not yet been loaded into the rocket.
It was previously reported that if the weather did not cooperate for the 5:23 a.m. opportunity, there would be one more opportunity at 7:09 a.m. ET.
SpaceX livestreamed the event on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acquired in 2022.
This launch attempt comes after several problems hampered the Polaris Dawn crew’s efforts to lift off in late August. First, a problem with ground equipment at the launch site delayed the scheduled date by 24 hours, and then weather forecasts forced SpaceX to give up two more attempts.
Around the same time, a Falcon 9 – the type of rocket that powered Polaris Dawn’s journey into space – malfunctioned during a routine satellite mission, prompting federal regulators to briefly stop all Falcon 9 rockets from flying. . SpaceX received permission on August 30 to return the Falcon 9 to flight.
To further complicate launch prospects, SpaceX not only needs clear weather for the mission to lift off, but it must ensure that the waters and winds are calm when the crew returns from space after their five-day excursion. . The timing of his return could be critical. Since conducting a spacewalk will deplete oxygen reserves, the Polaris Dawn mission will only have enough life support for five or six days in space.
At 2 and a half minutes after liftoff, the bottom part of the Falcon 9 rocket, called the first stage, will have used up most of its fuel. At that point, the first stage will separate from the rocket’s second stage while the top ignites its engine and continues propelling the Crew Dragon spacecraft to faster speeds.
Meanwhile, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will be guided back to Earth to land on a maritime platform so it can be reconditioned and used again on future missions. This is a signature SpaceX measure that, according to the company, helps reduce the cost of rocket launches.
To enter Earth’s orbit, the Falcon 9 rocket will have to reach more than 27,358 kilometers per hour, or “orbital speed.” When it reaches the desired speed, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will separate and must navigate the vacuum of space using only its onboard thrusters for the remainder of the mission.
Polaris Dawn is the brainchild of SpaceX and Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of fintech company Shift4 Payments, who made his first foray into spaceflight with the Inspiration4 mission in September 2021.
This flight, however, is no walk in the park.
Isaacman and his crewmates – who include his close friend and former US Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, as well as SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis – hope to achieve several records on this mission.
First, the SpaceX capsule aims to take the crew to a record height for an orbit around the Earth, surpassing the milestone set by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission in 1966, which reached 1,373 kilometers. If successful, Polaris Dawn will break that record by about 20 miles.
Space X launched third commercial mission directly to the International Space Station
The Polaris Dawn spaceflight would also be the highest by a human since NASA’s Apollo program, which ended in 1972 and took 24 astronauts to travel a quarter-million miles to the Moon instead of stopping at the earth’s orbit.
Polaris Dawn could also be the furthest space mission carried out by a woman.
To begin the third day of this mission, the civilian crew, while orbiting at a lower altitude of about 700 kilometers above Earth, will attempt a historic spacewalk.
The endeavor will be dangerous, as it will expose the four crew members and the interior of the Crew Dragon to the vacuum of space. This situation can make it difficult to close the vehicle’s hatch due to pressure differences. Additionally, exposure to vacuum can lead to the release of toxins from equipment when the cabin is repressurized, although SpaceX claims to have taken steps to prevent this.
