Polaris Dawn crew happy to be home after historic mission
The Polaris Dawn crew exited the Dragon capsule after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 3:37 am EDT (0837 UTC). First to exit the craft was American engineer and SpaceX lead space operations and mission director Anna Menon.
Next to disembark was Sarah Gillis, SpaceX senior space operations engineer, who performed the second spacewalk of the historic Polaris Dawn mission.
Third to exit the capsule was capsule pilot Scott Poteet, who busted out some smooth dance moves to celebrate his return to terra firma.
Last but not least to disembark was mission commander Jared Isaacman, who has become a "frequent flyer" on SpaceX Dargon capsule missions. During the Polaris Dawn operation, Isaacman made history by becoming the first civilian to perform a spacewalk or "Extravehicular Activity (EVA)."
Polaris Dawn mission hatch opens
At 4:20 am Edt (0820 UTC) the SpaceX recovery crew cracked open the hatch of the Dragon capsule to give the Polaris Dawn crew their first breathe of fresh air for five days.
Following hatch opening a surgeon entered the capsule to check the health of the crew.
Recovery ship greets Polaris Dawn mission
At around 4:00am (0800 UTC) a SpaceX recovery ship rendevouzed with the returned SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the Polaris Dawn mission crew.
The capsule was lifted from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico at 4;08 am EDT (0808 UTC). The Dragon capsule will now be moved to an egress platform where it can be opened and the crew members can breathe their first fresh air for five days.
Polaris Dawn in recovery!
After the splashdown of the Polaris Dawn capsule at 3:37 am EDT (0737 UTC), the SpaceX recovery team arrived at the spacecraft to ensure it was safe to be hoisted from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico by the SpaceX recovery vessel.
The recovery team are also communicating with the crew in the capsule to assess their health after reentry.
Polaris Dawn splashdown!
"Welcome back to Earth, Polaris Dawn!"
At 3:37 am EDT (0737 UTC), after the successful deployment of the Polaris Dawn's four drogue parachutes, the Polaris Dawn capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Carrying the four crew members led by Jared Isaacman, the return of the capsule was met with cheers of jubilation by the ground control team. Just minutes after splashdown, and ahead of the arrival of the SpaceX recovery vessel, fast boats reached the capsule.
They will check that the capsule is safe to approach and will search for its parachutes.
"Polaris Dawn we are mission complete!" said Isaacman on splashdown. "Thanks for the big help pulling this mission together."
First ground view of returning Dragon capsule!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's Dragon!
At 3:27 am EDT 7:27 UTC Earth caught its first view of the returning Dragon capsule is it heads for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The view was captured by the SpaceX recovery ship. The next steps for the return are the restoration of comms after a brief planned blackout and the deployment of drogue parachuettes.
The capsule and its crew have spent 5 days in space performing the first commercial spacewalk and setting a record for the number of humans exposed to the near vaccuum of space.
Visors down as Dragon crew head home
At 3:15 a.m. EDT (0715 GMT), Polaris Dawn's Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft captain Jared Isaacman reported back to SpaceX ground control that the crew had lowered their visors.
This seals the team's space suits and is a significant step ibn the preperation for the "active phase" of reentry. The Dragon capsule is set to splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico shortly. Around 5 minutes after visors are lowered the capsule and crew will briefly lose contact with Earth.
This happens every time a Dragon capsule reenters Earth's atmosphere, with the planned blackout estimated to last for around 7 minutes. Ground control won't be able to control the spacecraft at this time, but that is okay as Dragon is built to steer itself during this period.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn completes deorbit burn
At 2:50 a.m. EDT (0650 GMT), SpaceX announced that Polaris Dawn's Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft completed its deorbit burn, a series of thruster firings that put the capsule on its final trajectory ahead of a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cameras on the capsule captured a view of Earth as the spacecraft passed over Australia. Splashdown is still expected around 3:36 a.m. EDT (0736 GMT).
The capsule's nose cone was then closed to protect the "Skywalker" mobility aid added to this particular Dragon capsule that was used by the crew during its historic 1st commercial spacewalk on Sept. 12.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn begins heading back to Earth
SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn mission is coming to an end.
At 2:34 a.m. ET (0634 GMT), Polaris Dawn began deorbiting procedures to bring it back down to Earth for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. A few minutes later, the capsule jettisoned its "trunk," or service module, to expose its heatshield ahead of atmospheric reentry and began firing its thrusters to put it on a reentry trajectory.
The mission's Crew Dragon Resilience capsule will land in a new splashdown location for SpaceX, the Dry Tortugas, a series of islands off the southwest coast of Florida. Splashdown is expected to occur at 3:36 a.m. ET (0736 GMT).
Read more: SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronaut plays 'Star Wars' song in music video beamed from space (video)
Polaris Dawn astronauts land early Sunday
Early this morning via @Starlink space lasers, the Polaris Dawn crew chatted with SpaceX teams over coffee and donuts 🍩🛰️ pic.twitter.com/nZ9v0VSyr5September 14, 2024
SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts will return to Earth early Sunday, Sept. 15, at 3:36 a.m. EDT (0736 GMT), and you'll be able to watch it live on SpaceX's X account and mission webpage, beginning about one hour before splashdown. That live webcast will begin at 2:36 a.m. EDT (0636 GMT), if SpaceX's schedule holds.
The four Polaris Dawn astronauts will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, SpaceX said in a mission update.
Returning to Earth on the Polaris Dawn Dragon capsule will be the mission's billionaire commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, who are both SpaceX employees and now the agency's first company astronauts. Their splashdown will wrap up a five-day space mission that made history on several accounts.
Isaacman and Gillis performed the world's first private spacewalk on Thursday, Sept. 12, and the mission set a new record for orbital spaceflight when it reached an orbital altitude of a 1,408.1 kilometers, the highest-ever orbit by a crewed spacecraft.
Tune in to this page for complete landing coverage during the Polaris Dawn crew's return to Earth.
Today, to mark their final full day in space, the crew continued to perform a series of science experiments and used a new SpaceX Starlink plaser link connection on their Dragon to speak directly with people at the company's Hawthorne, California headquarters in a 40-minute video call, during which time the Dragon capsule fired its thrusters 16 different times.
Polaris Dawn crew tackle space science
Today is Flight Day 5 for SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts and is expected to be their final full day in orbit as the historic space mission nears its end.
On Friday, Sept. 14, the astronauts spent their Flight Day 4 performing science experiments in partnership with the 31 different institutions around the world the mission has teamed with for their flight, groups that include NASA.
The astronauts will continue their science experiment work today, and will also conduct more space internet tests using SpaceX's new space-to-space Starlink internet system, which is being debuted on this flight.
The Polaris Dawn astronauts are expected to land in the early predawn hours of Sunday, Sept. 15, but SpaceX has not yet announced a specific landing time or target splashdown site. The company can return its Dragon capsules to Earth off the coast of Florida in both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, weather permitting.
We expect to get word from SpaceX later today for its landing plans.
Polaris Dawn beams photos, music video from space
Polaris Dawn released a new music video from space this morning, hours after beaming home photos from orbit using Starlink satellites.
Polaris Dawn, a five-day private mission, continues to notch milestones under its belt. After breaking an altitude record set in 1966 for highest orbital crewed flight and helping break the record for most humans in orbit, the Polaris Dawn astronauts conducted the world's first commercial spacewalk on Thursday (Sept. 12).
Later that day, the quartet beamed home photos using laser connections with SpaceX's Starlink satellites. And this morning (Sept. 13,) the crew released a music video from space that featured Polaris Dawn astronaut Sarah Gillis playing violin from inside the mission's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Read more: Polaris Dawn astronaut plays 'Star Wars' song in music video beamed from space (video)
Cabin repressurization complete - Polaris Dawn EVA concluded
"EVA operations complete."
Following a series of leak checks inside the Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon Resilience, the repressurization of the spacecraft is complete. With full pressure restored to the cabin, the Polaris Dawn extravehicular activity (EVA) is concluded.
According to metrics from astronomer and space activity tracker Jonathan McDowell, the total "spacewalk time," today was 33min 25s. "The spacewalk time using my 5kPa rule was 33min 25s. The hatch open/close time was about 26m 40s. Isaacman was outside hatch for 7 min 56m; Gillis for about 7m15s," he wrote in a post on X.
From the beginning of depressurization of Dragon's cabin to the "operations copmlete" call ending the EVA, total ellapsed time was 1 hour and 46 minutes, ending at 7:58 am ET.
Read more: SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts perform historic 1st private spacewalk in orbit (video)
EVA hatch closed - repressurization begun
With the Polaris Dawn crew secured back inside their Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft, the forward hatch has been closed and repressurization of the spacecraft begun. The full repressurization of Dragon will take place in two stages, with varying rates of the addition of nitrogen to raise initial pressures, followed by a mixture of oxygen to complete the spacecraft's interior atmosphere. The process is expected to take about 50 minutes.
Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis heads back inside Dragon as Spacewalk nears copmletion
After several minutes of utilizing Dragon's Skywalker handrail aide to test the mobility of SpaceX's new extravehicular activity (EVA) suit, Polaris Dawn mission specialist Sarah Gillis is back inside the spacecraft to prepare to close the hatch and conclude the team's EVA.
Polaris Dawn Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis exits Crew Dragon
With mission commander Jared Isaacman safely back inside the Crew Dragon Resilience and the spacecraft's atitude adjusted slightly, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, reffered to during the extravehicular activity (EVA) as "EV2" moved for her turn to egress the spacecraft. As Isaacman did, Gillis will test out specific movements and functionalilities of SpaceX's EVA suit.
Prior to exiting, Gillis noted some "buldging" in some of the Dragon hatch seals, remarked as "expected" by SpaceX commentators.
The livestream of this morning's spacwalk is available at the top of this page, SpaceX's X account, or simulcast on the Space.com YouTube Channel.
Polaris Dawn Mission Commander Jared Isaacman egresses Dragon
With the Polaris Dawn EVA underway, mission commander Jared Isaacman has exited the spacecraft, using SpaceX's Skywalker mobility platform to secure himself as he floats in the vacuum of space.
Crew Dragon Resilience hatch is open
With their suits fully pressurized and the Crew Dragon cabin vented down to vacuum, the Polaris Dawn crew was given the green light top open the forward hatch of their spacecraft.
Presently, mission commander Jared Isaacman, refferred to during the EVA as "EV1," followed by mission specialist Sarah Gillish, "EV2," will take turn egressing the spacecraft, utilizing SpaceX's novel "Skywalker" mobility aide to exit Dragon's forward hatch.
Unlike the extravehicular activity (EVA) suits used on the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX's EVA suits lack the life support systems needed to operate without an umbilical. As such, Isaacman and Gillis are securred with a 12-foot tether, which provides a steady flow of oxygen, communications lines and a safety link securing them to the spacecraft as they perform EVA operations.
The livestream of this morning's spacwalk is available at the top of this page, SpaceX's X account, or simulcast on the Space.com YouTube Channel.
Oxygen flow initiated - Polaris Dawn EVA underway
"SpaceX is go for EVA operations."
"EV1 is go."
"EV2 is go."
"Support 1 is go."
"Support 2 is go."
The Polaris Dawn spacwalk has begun at 3:12 a.m. PDT.
The crew has completed their suit checks, confirmed seals, heads-up display functionality, and a undergone a seat rotation to allow for increased mobility during the extravehicular activity (EVA). With their suits switched to a flow of pure oxygen, the EVA has officially begun. Shortly, Isaacman and Gillis will exit Dragon in series to complete the function and mobility tests of SpaceX's new spacesuits.
This is the first commercial spacewalk ever performed, and the first time as many as four astronauts have donned spacesuits and all been simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space.
The livestream is available at the top of this page, SpaceX's X account, or simulcast on the Space.com YouTube Channel.
Crew begins donning their spacesuits
Following an extended prebreathe procedure, the Polaris Dawn crew has begun donning their suits in preparation of switching to a full oxygen flow before a "go," "no-go" poll for leak checks and the opening of Dragon's forward hatch.
Dragon will reposition itself so its trunk is facing the sun in order to regulate temperatures and communications during the spacewalk, during which mission commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis will take turns exiting Dragon to test the mobility of the SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit.
The livestream is available at the top of this page, SpaceX's X account, or simulcast on the Space.com YouTube Channel.
Polaris Dawn spacewalk livestream has begun
SpaceX has begun the livestream of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk. The activity is scheduled to begin at 5:58 a.m. ET. You can watch the spacewalk live online via SpaceX's X account, and it will be simulcast at the top of this page and on the Space.com YouTube Channel.
The spacewalk, which will be see Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis both exit the Dragon spacecraft. The entire procedure, from decompression of the cabin to represurization is expected to take about two hours.
Polaris Dawn spacewalk beginning Thursday morning
SpaceX has updated the time of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk to Thursday, September 12 at 5:58 a.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available on Friday, September 13.
The spacewalk, which will be conducted by Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis, You can watch the spacewalk live online via SpaceX's X account, and it will be simulcast at the top of this page and on the Space.com YouTube Channel. The livestream will begin about one hour before the spacewalk begins.
The entire spacewalk should last about two hours, with all four Polaris Dawn astronauts donning their SpaceX spacesuits. During that time, the crew will depressurize their Dragon capsule so Isaacman and Gillis can perch themselves halfway outside Dragon's hatch on a "mobility aid" SpaceX calls its Skywalker. They are expected to spent about 15 minutes actually positioned partially outside the hatch.
How to watch SpaceX's Polaris Dawn spacewalk
SpaceX is just hours away from attempting the world's first private spacewalk with the Polaris Dawn.
The spacewalk, which will be conducted by Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis, is scheduled to begin at 2:23 a.m. EDT (0623 GMT) on Thursday, Sept. 12, which is tomorrow! You can watch the spacewalk live online via SpaceX's X account, and it will be simulcast at the top of this page and on the Space.com YouTube Channel. The livestream will begin about one hour before the spacewalk begins.
The entire spacewalk should last about two hours, with all four Polaris Dawn astronauts donning their SpaceX spacesuits. During that time, the crew will depressurize their Dragon capsule so Isaacman and Gillis can perch themselves halfway outside Dragon's hatch on a "mobility aid" SpaceX calls its Skywalker. They are expected to spent about 15 minutes actually positioned partially outside the hatch.
Tune in on Thursday! As SpaceX says, "Excitement guaranteed!"
Inside SpaceX's Polaris Dawn spacesuit, science + orbit
SpaceX reports that its Polaris Dawn Dragon spacecraft has successfully lowered its orbit today, executing a series of four thruster maneuvers to reach an orbit that ranges between 121 miles (195 kilometers) at its lowest point and 458 miles (737 km) at its highest point. This is the orbit the Polaris Dawn crew will use during its highly anticipated private spacewalk on Thursday.
In anticipation of that historic first private spacewalk, SpaceX has released an excellent video on how it built its new spacewalk spacesuit and you can check it our in our story.
NASA has also detailed the science experiments it has aboard Polaris Dawn as part of the crew's science mission.
All lowering burns are now complete and Dragon is orbiting Earth at ~195 x 737 kmSeptember 11, 2024
Polaris Dawn reaches record-high orbit, 1st since Gemini 11
Flight Day 2 of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission is here and the private spaceflight backed by billionaire Jared Isaacman has already set a new record.
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the crew's Dragon capsule Resilience reached the highest orbital altitude of the flight, a distance of about 870 miles (1,400.7 kilometers). The distance is the farthest from Earth humans have flown since NASA's Apollo 17 moon landing mission in 1972, and the highest Earth orbit by a crewed spacecraft since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
That was on day one of the mission. Today, the crew will continue its 48-hour pre-breathing work ahead of a historic first private spacewalk on Thursday (Sept. 12).
Polaris Dawn mission specialist Anna Menon, a SpaceX lead operations engineer , is expected to read her children's book "Kisses from Space" from Dragon today as part of a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Polaris Dawn spacewalk set for Thursday Sept. 12
The world's first all-civilian spacewalk is only two days away.
Polaris Dawn will attempt its historic spacewalk on Thursday (Sept. 12) at 2:23 a.m. ET (0623 GMT), SpaceX wrote in a mission description on its website.
During the spacewalk (also known as an extravehicular activity, or EVA), Polaris Dawn crewmembers Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will exit their fully depressurized Crew Dragon spacecraft in specially-designed SpaceX spacesuits.
It will be the first-ever spacewalk by private astronauts. You can watch it live here when the time comes, courtesy of SpaceX.
Read more: How SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn private spacewalk will work
Polaris Dawn: Day One
SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission is underway.
After a stunning predawn launch, the four crewmembers of Polaris Dawn are preparing for their historic first all-civilian spacewalk. "Dragon will initiate a two-day pre-breathe process to prepare the crew for their upcomi