At 5:23 am Eastern Time on September 10th (17:23 am Beijing Time on September 10th), the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft, operated by SpaceX, was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to carry out the "North Star Dawn" mission.
After launch, the first and second stages of the rocket successfully separated. The first stage of the rocket successfully landed on an unmanned recovery ship in the Atlantic Ocean. After 12 minutes of launch, the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and continued to fly into space.
The specific content of the "North Star Dawn" mission is that a crew of four private astronauts will enter the Earth's radiation belt aboard a spacecraft and plan to conduct the first commercial spacewalk.
SpaceX has announced that the Dragon spacecraft will initiate a two-day pre breathing process in preparation for the upcoming spacewalk on Thursday, September 12th.
SpaceX Live Streaming Screenshot
SpaceX Live Streaming Screenshot
SpaceX Live Streaming Screenshot
SpaceX Live Streaming Screenshot
SpaceX Live Streaming Screenshot
SpaceX's "North Star Dawn" mission has been postponed multiple times. Originally scheduled to launch on August 27th, it was delayed due to helium leaks, poor weather, and other factors. On September 10th, the launch was initially scheduled for 3:38 am, but was later postponed again to 5:23 am due to weather conditions.
The crew of the "North Star Dawn" mission consists of billionaire Jared Isakman, his close friend and former Air Force pilot Scott Kidd Potit, and two SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. The crew of the "North Star Dawn" mission has been training for two and a half years for this multi day mission.
Polaris social media
This is the first time non-governmental astronauts have attempted space exploration. In this attempt, astronauts will be fully protected by a brand new EVA suit, which was designed and developed by SpaceX over a period of two and a half years.
The four individuals mentioned above will spend five days on SpaceX's manned Dragon spacecraft, which will fly to the highest altitude reached by humans since the end of NASA's Apollo program in the 1970s.
"North Star Dawn" mission illustration SpaceX social media post
Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of commercial aerospace company Rocket Faction, told Interface News that SpaceX's "North Star Dawn" mission has four innovative and special features. One is that they will reach the farthest place that humans have been to since the moon landing, with a high orbit of 1400 kilometers and an extravehicular work point within a range of 700 kilometers.
Especially at a range of 1400 kilometers, we have actually reached the Van Allen radiation belt, the ionosphere, where the Earth's magnetic field and solar wind intersect. Electromagnetic radiation is very strong and can cause great harm to the human body or equipment. "Cheng Wei said that SpaceX has experienced great challenges and will collect a lot of experimental data at that time, which will create history.
Secondly, similar to the civilian space mission "Inspiration 4" carried out in 2021, advocating for all civilian action. Thirdly, inter satellite communication will adopt laser technology, and the first test of space laser communication is planned for the Starlink satellite network. Laser communication is more precise, with longer distances and more concentrated energy, which is a significant innovation and expansion in communication systems.
Fourthly, the most important innovation this time is the space suit. Cheng Wei believes that during the process of ordinary people going into space, the most important and technically challenging aspect that needs to be changed is the space suit.
According to its introduction, SpaceX spacesuits have undergone significant expansion, and their current appearance looks like ordinary clothing, with high technological content and improved flexibility while also ensuring a life support system. The Dragon spacecraft itself does not have an air chamber or isolated space. After the cabin door is opened, both the inside and outside are in a vacuum, and there is no traditional space station or situation where there is a gap between them when walking outside. However, the spacesuit retains an umbilical cord connecting the interior of the Dragon spacecraft to provide oxygen, which is a significant progress.
The SpaceX team stated that the spacesuit was designed with maneuverability in mind, utilizing new materials, manufacturing processes, and innovative joint designs to provide greater flexibility while also enhancing reliability and redundancy during spacewalks.
Polaris social media
According to the flight plan for the first day, the spacecraft will search for the time with the lowest risk of passing through the micro meteorite orbit after takeoff, and before entering the Van Allen radiation belt, extensive performance checks will be conducted on the manned "Dragon" spacecraft.
During its in orbit operation, the crew of the "Polaris Dawn" mission will conduct 36 research and scientific experiments with 31 collaborating institutions to expand our understanding of human adaptation, living, and working in space.
On the third day of the mission, the most crucial task is to conduct a spacewalk, which is expected to last for two hours and is also the core of the "North Star Dawn" mission. Isaac previously stated that he understands the risks of spacewalks as "meaning he and his companions will be surrounded by death," but they have undergone long-term specialized training for this purpose.
Spacewalk, also known as extravehicular activity, is a key technology for manned spaceflight. Currently, only astronauts from the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Canada, and China have conducted spacewalks worldwide.
According to a previous report by CNN, according to the plan, Isaac Mann and Gillis from the manned "Dragon" spacecraft will be responsible for the spacewalk, while Potit and Menon will remain inside the spacecraft for support. Isaac Mann revealed that due to the presence of numerous cameras both inside and outside the spacecraft, the entire process of the spacewalk will be live streamed.
Cheng Wei told Interface News that for this mission, launch is only the first step, and the biggest challenge is to complete the designed experiments as well as exit and return.
The "North Star Dawn" mission was first announced in 2022 and is the first of three testing and development missions under the "North Star Program". Isaac Mann and SpaceX jointly executed and funded the program, but did not disclose the cost of this mission.
Isaac Mann was born in 1983 and is the founder of payment service company Shift4. He is also a jet pilot with dreams of space travel. According to CNN, Isaac Mann is not only interested in replicating the experiences of professional astronauts, but he is also seeking to advance space technology, fund the development of new hardware, and personally take on the risks of testing this technology in outer space.
In 2021, the Falcon 9 rocket carried the Inspiration4 spacecraft, ignited from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida, and successfully returned three days later without leaving the spacecraft. The four crew members of this space mission are all ordinary people, making it the world's first private manned space mission conducted by a non-governmental organization.
At that time, Isaacman was also the commander and sponsor of this flight mission, and the other three passengers were Hailey Arceno, a bone cancer survivor who became a physician assistant, Sean Procter, a female Earth scientist and former NASA astronaut candidate, and Chris Sembrowski, a retired US Air Force soldier and aerospace data engineer.
In Cheng Wei's view, the mission led by the wealthy in the United States is actually a science popularization activity, telling everyone that civilians can ascend to heaven. For China, the first step is to address issues such as funding sources and technological innovation for commercial aerospace, and then raise them to the level of awareness.
There is still a long way to go for ordinary people to go into space in China's commercial aerospace industry. Currently, it is still in the stage of breakthroughs in spacecraft technology before it can reach the stage of human exploration. He believes that in the resource intensive and technology intensive aerospace field, China and the United States are mainly competing.
At present, the training process of Chinese commercial astronauts is relatively slow. At the end of 2022, the China Exploration Association released the "Commercial Astronaut Rating Standards" and "Commercial Astronaut Training Standards", hoping to promote the growth of commercial astronauts. Cheng Wei said that there is still a long way to go, and this part of development is complementary to spacecraft.
For SpaceX, the next step may be to continue promoting the experimental development of the Starship, which will further support Musk's lunar exploration program and other missions in the future, "said Cheng Wei.
Recently, Musk posted on social media that he plans to launch a new generation of unmanned heavy carrier rocket, Starship, to Mars for the first time within two years.
Musk plans to conduct a "Starship" unmanned Mars exploration mission during the next launch window, which will verify the reliability of the spacecraft's complete landing on Mars. If the landing goes smoothly, the plan is to conduct the first manned Mars exploration mission of the "Starship" within 4 years.
In Musk's view, once the manned Mars mission is successful, the space journey to Mars will grow exponentially, with the goal of building self-sufficient cities on Mars within 20 years.
