American businessman Jared Isaacman announced that he had acquired three more flights from the space company SpaceX as part of the Polaris program. The billionaire participated in the Inspiration4 space mission last September. Isaacman fully financed the flight, which took place over three days. In addition to Isaacman, the mission included three more non-professional astronauts.
The businessman is the founder and head of the American payment processing company Shift4 Payments.
The Polaris program includes three manned flights. Polaris Dawn will be the first launch and will take place in the last quarter of 2022. Isaacman himself will be the commander of this flight, and the crew will include former US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Potit, as well as SpaceX engineers Sara Gillis and Anna Menon. According to the billionaire, the details of the flight are still being discussed, but it is known that the launch of Polaris Dawn will be carried out from the LC-39A launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. The five-day mission provides for the exit of astronauts into outer space.
SpaceX has developed a new spacesuit for this purpose, which is based on the company's existing ones. Dragon 2 does not have an atmospheric airlock, so EVA will be carried out through the forward compartment of the ship after depressurizing the compartment.
The rise of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule as part of the mission will be the maximum for ships of this type. The space company uses them to deliver crews and cargo to and from the ISS. Isaacman believes that the upcoming flight will allow people to move further into space for the first time since the lunar missions.
The Polaris Dawn crew will take part in testing Starlink satellite laser communication technology.
All three launches will be preparation for the launch of the Starship spacecraft, which SpaceX has been working on over the past years. This ship will be used to deliver people to the moon, and later on to Mars. During the tests, Starship reached a height of almost 10 km, but only once the ship managed to make a successful landing. SpaceX must provide life support systems on Starship, resolve the issue of its in-space refueling, disembarkation and return of astronauts back.
Last spring, NASA allocated $2.9 billion to develop a lunar lander for the Artemis mission, which will launch in 2024. As part of the program, the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board will go to the moon. Two crew members will descend on the module to the surface of the satellite. After completing the tasks, the astronauts must return to the ship and go to Earth.
The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with Isaacman, Christopher Sembrosky, Hayley Arceno and Sian Proctor took place in mid-September last year. All crew members are non-professional astronauts. The rocket reached a height of about 575 km above the Earth's surface. During the Inspiration4 flight, the team encountered a problem - a device for collecting and disposing of waste was out of order. However, this did not prevent the team from successfully splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean three days after the start of the flight.
Last year, Isaacman announced a raffle for a ticket to the SpaceX Dragon, which was open to those who made a donation of at least $10 to St. Jude's Hospital. Among those who wished were 72 thousand people. The victory was won by the American Kyle Hippchen, who could not join the flight due to weight parameters and presented a ticket to his friend.
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