The Polaris Dawn mission to send humans into a 1,400km orbit – higher than 1966's Gemini 11 – is set to launch in less than a week.
OTD in Space – September 14: Gemini 11 sets all-time altitude record
The private mission led by Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman represents the farthest humans have ventured from Earth since the days of the Apollo program. The plan is to launch Isaacman and his three other astronauts in a Crew Dragon spacecraft to an orbit of 190 x 1,200 km. Dragon's Draco thrusters will then raise the orbit to 190 x 1,400 km, surpassing that of Gemini 11, before lowering the orbit to 190 x 700 km for the first commercial spacewalk.
The mission is expected to last five days and, if all goes according to plan, will come as NASA finally decides what to do with Boeing's Starliner and whether its crew will also join the ranks of SpaceX astronauts.
The goals of the mission are to take the human Earth-orbit altitude record, then perform a commercial spacewalk using SpaceX-designed Extravehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuits, perform a first test of laser-based Starlink communications on a human spaceflight, and finally conduct several experiments for partner institutions .
