Polaris Dawn mission canceled for the time being due to weather problems
The Polaris Dawn mission has been canceled for the time being. The weather forecasts for the take-off and landing area in Florida are too poor.
This is what the planned external deployment of the Polaris Dawn mission was supposed to look like. Nothing will come of it for the time being.
(Image: Polaris Dawn / SpaceX)
Unfavorable weather forecasts for the coast of the US state of Florida have thrown a spanner in the works for US billionaire Jared Isaacman's private Polaris Dawn mission: the mission therefore cannot begin as planned on 28 August. According to SpaceX, the alternative date of August 29 has also been canceled.
The space mission was originally scheduled to begin on August 28 at 3:38 a.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time (9:38 a.m. CEST). The Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX rocket was to carry a SpaceX Dragon capsule with four astronauts on board into orbit. The Dragon capsule was to be brought up to an altitude of 1,400 km, the highest Earth orbit since the last Apollo mission in the early 1970s.
It was also planned for an astronaut to exit the capsule at an altitude of 700 km, the first-ever external mission by a commercial crew. The new space suits developed by SpaceX were to be tested during the space mission. In addition, around 36 research studies and experiments were to be carried out by partner institutions and a new laser-based Starlink system for communication in space was to be tested.
Mission objectives not at risk
The mission objectives remain unchanged. The SpaceX team will continue to monitor the weather conditions to find and determine a new launch window. This is to ensure that the astronauts arrive back on Earth safely after the five-day Polaris Dawn mission.
The Polaris Dawn mission has already been postponed several times. Most recently on Tuesday. A helium leak in a supply line had thwarted the launch and made it necessary to postpone it until Wednesday.
(olb)