The private space mission ‘Polaris Dawn’ has ended. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the ocean on Sunday morning (CEST), as shown in live images from the company. According to earlier information from SpaceX, the spacecraft was expected to impact near the southernmost tip of Florida.
The journey of billionaire Jared Isaacman and three other amateur astronauts began Tuesday morning. After lifting off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport on the west coast of Florida, the Crew Dragon climbed to an altitude of about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers).
SpaceX stressed that this is the greatest distance from Earth since the last Apollo missions to the moon in the early 1970s. The ISS space station, which has been in operation for decades, is at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.
“First commercial spacewalk”
Then came the riskiest part of the venture, billed by SpaceX as the “first commercial spacewalk.” Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis would each stay outside for 15 to 20 minutes, testing out the spacesuits they were using for the first time. But the amateur astronauts weren’t floating freely in space some 460 miles above Earth during the melee, which lasted just a few minutes; they were on a ladder-like structure near the Crew Dragon’s entrance.
Because the Crew Dragon, unlike the ISS, does not have an airlock, all four crew members, including former fighter pilot Kidd Poteet and SpaceX employee Anna Menon, had to don spacesuits. With the hatch open, they were also exposed to the vacuum of space; there was no air to breathe in the cabin.
Source: Krone
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