Space X Polaris Dawn Mission

[Startrek]

After 2 years of development , testing and astronaut training the Polaris Dawn mission is scheduled for launch this Thursday 29th August 5.38pm Australia EST from Pad 39A at the KSC. Back up times are 7.23pm and 9.09pm.
There is also a backup launch date the following day Friday 30th August ( same times )
Launch vehicle is a modified Dragon crew capsule ( EVA capability) and Falcon 9 booster.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=polarisdawn

There are 2 main mission objectives ( amongst many others ) the first is to perform a 2 person EVA with the new Space X EVA suits at an orbital altitude of 700km. The second is to increase the orbit to a maximum distance of 1400km from Earth. This will be the first time since Apollo 17 back in December 1972 that humans have reached this orbital distance from Earth.

I presume the Space X live broadcast will be streamed in 4K via Starlink

Can’t wait to watch this one , in particular the EVA and views of Earth from 1400km.

As always with Space X excitement is guaranteed !!

Martin

[TrevorW]

Whoa nice to think 50 years later and they are achieving the same thing as the Apollo missions :)

[Startrek]

Trev,
Thanks
Not quite the achievements of Apollo
The comment regarding Apollo 17 was in relation to the orbital distance from Earth.
Since the end of Apollo in 1972 , all manned low earth orbital missions eg: Skylab, Soyuz , Space Shuttle, ISS and so on only reached altitudes of less than 500km ( the majority around 250km )
This Space X Polaris Dawn mission will reach a maximum altitude of 1400km ( 3 or 4 times the distance of any previous missions post Apollo ) Apollo did the same but kept going beyond 1400km all the way to the moon approx 385,000km away and approx another 385,000km to get back home.
Not quite sure if Polaris Dawn will be affected by the Van Allen radiation belts at maximum altitude ?

Hope that puts things into perspective

Cheers
Martin

[TrevorW]

Its Ok Martin, I am being a bit cynical, I've become disillusion with the whole space race since the end of the Apollo missions. I think NASA slowed down and forgot how to launch missions to the moon, and that Space X long term goals are just not achievable.

[strongmanmike]

I guess the near $200 Billion spent over 30 years on just the shuttle program alone :eyepop: might have had some influence..? :) This is something those lunatic Moon landing deniers don't understand, when they proudly pontificate that the fact that NASA hasn't gone back to the Moon means that they must have never gone at all :rolleyes: :lol:

Agree re Space X long term goal, will never happen :)...or at least not in anything like the manner that is currently envisioned :shrug:

Mike
I am being cynical as well, I am sure you are not a Moon landing denier Trevor ;)

[Startrek]

Here’s my take on it all …..
We really can’t compare Apollo to what’s happening today with Space X and others , the two main reasons are global politics ( USA and Russian Cold War ) and RISK.
Apollo 8 would never have launched in 2024 with only 3 unmanned Saturn 5 complete Lunar stack ( no LEM ) ( 1 partial failure ) reaching low earth orbit. Even Apollo 7 was an earth orbital cut down version of the complete Saturn 5 lunar version. NASA took huge risks compared to today sending a manned Saturn 5 to the moon in Dec 68’ to prove that the US was a world leader in technology and political might !!
Look at Artemis today, old shuttle propulsion technology, restricted budgets , red tape and way too much risk. It will be years and years before we see a manned Artemis mission to the moon , if at all ??

I don’t whether Musk and Space X will ever reach Mars ( unmanned or manned ) but I’m going along for ride to watch it all unfold over the next 10 years.
I’m still mildly confident
I watched Armstrong set foot on the moon from a grainy black and white telly as a kid , so hoping one day I see the next Armstrong set foot on Mars as an old fart.

Martin

[strongmanmike]

Naaaah, not a chance, zero, zip, sorry ;)

But ahhh sigh...a lovely dream, I wish it had hope, I really do, I'd love to see that too.... :zzz2:

Heck, Elon is shooting himself in the foot anyway by accelerating the polluting of low earth orbit, in little time it's likely to be unsafe for manned missions to navigate through it, makes me laugh but cry at the same time.

Mike

[Startrek]

Hmm ….
I could be wrong but isn’t methane ( Methalox ) the cleanest safest lowest carbon producing combustion emission on the planet ?
In other words natural gas !
Martone.

[strongmanmike]

He, he yeah maybe... but not Starlink satellites ;)

Mike

[TrevorW]

Like you Mike I watched the moon landing on TV as a 14 year old and even collected all the newspaper clippings I could :)

[Startrek]

I have a bit of a family connection to NASA
My Aunty ( Dads eldest sister ) who moved to the US ( Los Angeles ) after the War, eventually found a job in the mid 60’s as a PA to one of the Managers at Rocketdyne. Rocketdyne was one of the main contractors ( propulsion ) for Apollo. She worked there for about 20 years retiring in 1984.
She used to send me “Apollo stuff “ from time to time during the Apollo era , books , stamps , toy rockets etc…
A wonderful time of my life !

[strongmanmike]

I was 2 years old on 20 July 1969, so sadly I don't remember the first one but at 5 and a half years old for Apollo 17 and part of a family that tended to watch the evening news every night, I'm confident I recall seeing one or more of the later Apollo missions and do remember watching some "live" footage of the Luna surface....sadly, due to this regular TV evening feast, by the end of Apollo, I also remember having watched many regular distressing scenes out of Vietnam as well and recall the reports about the ending of that conflict and even as a little boy, thinking "gee I'm glad that's over!" as it seemed to have been going on my whole life! :(

Mike

[mldee]

In the spirit of oneupmanship, :D, I watched Apollo 11 on an 8" Sony car-battery powered portable TV from my house in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, courtesy of a TV rebroadcast by AFRTS (American Foces Radio & Tv Service) from a C121 Super Constellation piston engined plane orbiting over head at about 10,000 feet. You had reception for 10 minutes, then none for 10 minutes, but better than nothing.

I was quite bedazzled by the whole 1969 technology thing, both the moon landing and the TV broadcasting to the boonies. Would be a lot easier now.

As Mike says, I also doubt that we'll do a major Mars event any time soon, present rocket propulsion technology is still relatively Neanderthal, still waiting for The Big Breakthrough in that department. But hats off to Elon for what he has achieved there so far for reuseability.

The moon seems a much better match to our present technology limitations and capabilities.

[Startrek]

Polaris Dawn mission finally launched our time last night after a week of delays
Dragon finally in orbit
Should be a spectacular mission and the 4K video streams of EVA and wide field view of Earth from 1400km out in deep space will be epic

[AussieSky]

My greatest fear is that we will suffer a major Kessler Syndrome event before SpaceX get to Mars, denying us access to space for some years......

[Startrek]

Polaris Dawn EVA from an altitude of 700km is scheduled for tonight at 7.58pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Fingers crossed no delays……,
Hopefully the EVA suit helmet high res camera works ok and Starlink 4K uplink stream works as well.
Should be a breathtaking view at that altitude
I’m sure they calculated the Sun angle etc… to get the best quality views

I’ll be cranking on the TV to watch it !!

[glend]

It was delayed but seemed to go ok. Sucks to be the two support folks, who are all suited up for hours and don't get to even get out of their seats for a peek out the open hatch. They should extend the mission to let the other two have a go. I could never sit in a space suit that long, not without a catheter.:rofl: