The Stars My Destination: Polaris Dawn

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Space Age
10-15 September 2024: Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis (SpaceX), & Mission Specialist Anna Menon (SpaceX) lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A aboard the Crew Dragon Resilience (C207) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The Resilience surpassed Gemini XI's (1966) record for the highest orbit of Earth (surpassed only by the Apollo & now Artemis lunar missions). Isaacman & Gillis conducted stand-up E.V.A., the first spacewalks for a private mission. After seventy-five orbits, the Resilience splashed down in the Atlantic & was recovered by the M.V. Shannon.

Isaacman was a veteran of a previous private spaceflight (Inspiration4); Poteet, Gillis, & Menon were rookies. As of this writing, Isaacman is the Administrator of N.A.S.A., Gillis is a Senior Advisor to the N.A.S.A. Administator, & Menon is an astronaut candidate (Astronaut Group 24, "The Platypi").

Polaris Dawn was the third flight of the Resilience.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Polaris Dawn & the Resilience
The Specials, "(Dawning of a) New Era" from The Specials (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The mission patch is an exaggeration. Neither Isaacman nor Gillis fully exited the Resilience & floated in space like Ed White during Gemini IV (1965). Below is an artist's rendering of how the stand-up spacewalks would have looked.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
2020
Demo-2 Launch
Demo-2 Splashdown
Crew-1 Launch
2021
Crew-1 Relocation
Crew-2 Launch
Crew-1 Splashdown
Inspiration4 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-2 Splashdown
Crew-3 Launch
2022
Ax-1 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-4 Launch
Crew-3 Splashdown
Crew-5 Launch
Crew-4 Splashdown
2023
Crew-6 Scrub
Crew-6 Launch
Crew-5 Splashdown
Ax-2 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Launch
Crew-6 Splashdown
2024
Ax-3 Launch & Splashdown
Crew-7 Splashdown
Crew-8 Launch & Splashdown
Boe-C.F.T. Launch & Landing

Godspeed & welcome back to the good Earth, Polaris Dawn!