SpaceX: Project Polaris

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Apparently SpaceX's EVA (spacewalk) suit is almost done.  

 

The first mission is Polaris Dawn, which will try to orbit higher than Gemini 11 (1,368 km), do the first civilian spacewalk, and test Starlink laser communications to a crewed spacecraft.

 

The first and second flights would be a board Crew Dragon, the third aboard Starship.

 

(hint: open in an incognito tab)

https://t.co/9fowUWJqoS

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Jared Isaacman, who led the first all-private astronaut mission to orbit, has commissioned 3 more flights from SpaceX

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The first flight, which could come by the end of the year, will aim to send a crew of four farther than any other human spaceflight in 50 years and feature the first private-citizen spacewalk, Isaacman said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post. The second flight also would be aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the vehicle that NASA now relies on to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.

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The first flight, which could come by the end of the year, will aim to send a crew of four farther than any other human spaceflight in 50 years and feature the first private-citizen spacewalk, Isaacman said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post. The second flight also would be aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the vehicle that NASA now relies on to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.

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Program page,

 

https://polarisprogram.com/

 

 

 

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First Polaris mission: Polaris Dawn

 

Date: Q4 2022 (targeting November)

Time: TBD

Pad: LC-39A

Vehicle: Crew Dragon (Resilience?)

 

Mission: dual spacewalk, very high orbit, test Starlink network for spacecraft laser communications.

 

Crew

Commander: Jared Isaacman

Pilot: Scott Poteet

Mission Specialist 1: Sarah Gillis

Mission Specialist 2: Anna Menon

 

Sarah Gillis: Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, oversees their astronaut training

 

Anna Menon: Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, manages development of crew operations, Mission Director, and CAPCOM.

 

?

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Concept image of a spacewalk, and the two SpaceX crew members

 

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Tim Dodd interviews Jared Isaacman about Polaris Project

 

This is a good one

 

 

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SpaceX EVA suit tidbits...

 

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Polaris Dawn's launch is NET November 2022.

 

Shooting for an altitude of 1300 to 1400 km, 2 crew members will do a spacewalk in SpaceX's new EVA suit.

 

https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/05/10/spacex-training-begins-this-month-for-first-commercial-spacewalk-mission/

 

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SpaceX training begins this month for first commercial spacewalk mission

 

The four-person crew who will fly on the all-private Polaris Dawn mission — set to include the first commercial spacewalk and the debut of SpaceX’s extravehicular spacesuit — will begin training this month [...]

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The new suit will look more like SpaceX’s in-cabin pressure suits than the NASA’s older, bulky spacesuits used for excursions outside the International Space Station, Isaacman said.

 

“You’re adding lots of redundancies in the suit that don’t exist today, since it’s more last line of defense,” [...]

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“You have a new visor, new seals, then mobility, joints everywhere for increased mobility and dexterity in the fingers and such. I think, visually, it will be more along the lines of what it currently looks like, but very much like a new suit.”

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Polaris Dawn 1 is targeting  launch in November, 2022. 

 

 

 

 

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Polaris Dawn 1 now December

 

https://spacenews.com/december-launch-planned-for-polaris-dawn/

 

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December launch planned for Polaris Dawn

 

WASHINGTON —The privately funded Polaris Program is planning its first crewed launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in December, a mission that will include the first spacewalk on a private mission.

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The mission has three major goals. One is to fly Crew Dragon in an orbit with an apogee of 1,400 kilometers, the highest for a crewed mission in Earth orbit. Another is to test communications with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation.

 

The third, and perhaps most ambitious, is a spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA),[...]

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Menon said there are more than 35 experiments planned for the five-day mission, many focused on the elevated radiation environment of the higher orbit. 

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The Space Telescope Science Institute is now involved in the NASA-SpaceX Hubble servicing mission study. This could encompass simply reboosting Hubble to give it a longer service life, or a full servicing mission to also replace and update systems using Crew Dragon.

 

 

 

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SpaceX EVA spacesuit update...

https://twitter.com/rookisaacman/status/1615120543983996929

 

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Polaris leader Jared Isaacman talking about the new SpaceX EVA (spacewalk) suit

Full text

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- Building and certifying new EVA suits for starters.  There is a big difference between an IVA suit that is a last line of defense in the vehicle vs. suit engineered from the start to be exposed to vacuum outside the spaceship.  That includes suit changes for mobility, life support redundancy, sun glare, some resiliency to MMOD.
- Similarly, the vehicle was designed to go to vacuum only in an emergency.  There are changes to software and ECLSS hardware to make an EVA a nominal operation.
- Laser-based communication over the Starlink constellation is not an easy task either.  Its not just turning the router switch to the ON position.   Every draco firing could break a link.
- We are flying higher and closer to the Van Allen belts than anyone has gone since Apollo 17.  The radiation exposure during those orbits over a few days is the equivalent to months on the ISS.  Avionics don't like radiation which means there is a lot to analyze and sim to get right.

SpaceX engineers are doing an outstanding job tackling big problems very quickly.

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We should soon see the reveal of SpaceX's new EVA/spacewalk suit. 

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This is pure speculation, but

This Crew Dragon going for thermal vacuum testing is unusual, and may indicate this is the new 5th vehicle for the Crew Dragon fleet.

It also seems reasonable to assume it will have enhanced radiation shielding, it's going much higher and they will be doing radiation testing.

May also have some unannounced tricks up its  sleeve, since it may be used for other Polaris missions  such as the Hubble servicing mission. Hubble docking/grapple adapter and/or robotic arm in the Trunk?

This could be fun

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More news,

Pilot Scott Poteet will undergo  intracranial pressure measurements before, during and after the flight. This NASA experiment is to explore a condition known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS), a health risk during long duration spaceflights. They will use a spinal catheter originally developed for patients with hydrocephalus, which has a sensor. FDA had to clear this use.

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Polaris Dawn run up begins 

Polaris Dawn run up 

Ars Technica story

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/private-astronauts-to-fly-highest-mission-since-apollo-make-groundbreaking-eva/

 

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Here's a recording of the Polaris Dawn teleconference (audio only). Very informative.