SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission has been delayed again.
Polaris Dawn It was originally scheduled to launch early Monday morning (August 26) from NASA's International Space Station. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but SpaceX I put things off for a day to carry out further pre-flight checks. The company then called for the attempt planned for Tuesday (August 27) After a helium leak was detected, Wednesday, August 28 was set as the date. But now Mother Nature has thwarted that plan.
“Due to forecast unfavorable weather conditions at Dragon's splashdown areas off the coast of Florida, we are now canceling Falcon 9 launch opportunities for Polaris Dawn tonight and tomorrow. Teams will continue to monitor the weather for favorable launch and return conditions.” SpaceX announced on Tuesday evening via X.
Polaris Dawn will send four people into Earth orbit in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which will depart from the planet aboard one of the company's spacecraft. Falcon 9 Rockets.
Related: Polaris Dawn: Everything you need to know about the first mission of the Polaris Program
The crew consists of Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and Mission Specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman is a billionaire businessman who is funding Polaris Dawn; Poteet is a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and Gillis and Menon are SpaceX engineers.
The next mission will make history in several ways. Isaacman and Gillis will carry out the first private mission spacewalkFor example, and Polaris Dawn aims to send the Dragon to a maximum altitude of about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), higher than any manned mission since Apollo was.
SpaceX has not yet announced a new planned launch date for Polaris Dawn, which will spend about five days orbiting our planet. But as the company's post on X on Tuesday afternoon makes clear, both Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 29) are off the table, so Friday (Aug. 30) is now the earliest possible liftoff day.
Polaris Dawn will be the first spaceflight for Poteet, Gillis and Menon. Isaacman flew into orbit in September 2021, on SpaceX’s pioneering space shuttle. Inspiration4 The billionaire funded and directed that effort as well, and plans to do the same for two additional missions after Polaris Dawn.
