SpaceX has just shared some stunning images and a short video showing an orbital sunset as seen from the Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon spacecraft way above Earth. Check out the imagery below:
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
Earth appears rounder and more distant than what astronauts aboard the International Space Station see as the Crew Dragon is in an orbit more than three times higher. Since launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, the Crew Dragon and its four occupants reached an apogee of more than 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), marking the farthest humans have traveled in space since the the Apollo program five decades ago.
Later on Wednesday, two of the crew members — Jared Isaacson and Sarah Gillis — will conduct the first-ever spacewalk from a Crew Dragon spacecraft at a point about 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth. It will also be the first-ever commercial spacewalk and involve testing a newly designed spacesuit that offers greater mobility and comfort than the current design. A refined version of the new spacesuit is likely to be used on future crewed missions to the moon and possibly to Mars, as well.
According to an update shared on Polaris Dawn’s X account on Wednesday, the crew, which also includes Scott Poteet and Anna Menon, has been busy preparing for the much-anticipated spacewalk, while also working on various activities dedicated to science and research. They’ve also participated in several video calls to Earth, including chats with family members conducted over SpaceX Starlink connections.
The Polaris Dawn mission has been funded by Isaacman, a billionaire businessman who founded payments processor Shift4 Payments in 1999 when he was just 16 years old. Isaacman has been to space once before, as part of the Inspiration4 mission in 2021, which also involved four non-professional astronauts.
The Polaris Dawn crew is set to return home this weekend after spending about five days in orbit.
