Polaris Dawn Astronauts Launch on Ambitious Private Mission
The New York Times
The mission is taking people farther from Earth than anyone has traveled since the end of NASA’s Apollo moon missions.
On Tuesday morning, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, launched to space for a second time. The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, is a collaboration between Mr. Isaacman and SpaceX, the rocket company led by Elon Musk.
“Send us, SpaceX,” Mr. Isaacman said with just over 30 seconds left in the countdown.
At 5:23 a.m. Eastern time, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than 15 minutes later, the crew of four astronauts inside the Crew Dragon capsule — that will be their home for the next five days — were in orbit.
“We’re going to get to work now,” Mr. Isaacman said in an exchange with the launch controllers on the ground.
The Polaris Dawn mission will mark some milestones for private spaceflight — the first spacewalk conducted by nonprofessional astronauts, and the farthest journey from Earth by anyone since NASA’s moon landings more than 50 years ago.
The launch was scheduled for Aug. 28, but was called off because of a helium leak. After that, unsettled weather around Florida has proved troublesome — not so much for the launch, but for the splashdown on the sixth day.
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