Polaris Dawn Crew Returns to Earth, Achieving Major Objectives During Their Five-Day Mission
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., September 15, 2024 – After nearly five days orbiting Earth, the astronauts of Polaris Dawn, flying aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:36:54 a.m. EDT. The mission launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. EDT on September 10, 2024.
After SpaceX teams safely recovered Dragon, the crew flew to Kennedy Space Center to reunite with their families and complete initial medical checks ahead of flying to Houston, Texas, to complete more of the mission’s research studies.
The Polaris Dawn crew accomplished several historic milestones, including:
- Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown, all while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an altitude of 1,408.1 kilometers (874.9 miles) from Earth’s surface – or more than three times farther than the International Space Station. This was the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program;
- Completing the first-ever commercial space walk while traveling at 17,500 miles per hour in an elliptical orbit of approximately 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth with new SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits – the development of which will define future long-duration and scalable missions in space;
- Partnering with 31 global institutions to conduct approximately 36 experiments for critical scientific research designed to advance our knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration spaceflights;
- Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites, revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;
- Reading Kisses From Space, a book written by Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon to share with both her own family and several brave patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®;
- Holding a special music moment to unite and inspire the world through the globally understood medium of music, while also fundraising for St. Jude and El Sistema USA. During the mission, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis played the violin part from “Rey’s Theme” by composer John Williams and sent the recording back to Earth using Starlink. She was joined in her performance by professional and youth musicians from around the world through a series of pre-recorded orchestra sessions. The youth musicians captured in the video are students in the international El Sistema network of organizations, including the El Sistema program in Venezuela, The Boston String Academy in the United States, NEOJIBA in Brazil, Dream Orchestra in Sweden, Brass for Africa in Uganda, and BLUME Haiti. The video of this historic performance is the first-of-its-kind downloaded from space enabled with Starlink high-speed internet in space.
Additional updates about the mission and crew post-return will continue to be available via the Polaris social media channels.
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About Polaris Dawn
Polaris Dawn is the first of three human spaceflights under the Polaris Program. The program is named after Polaris, a constellation of three stars more commonly known as the North Star, which has been a guiding light throughout human history to help us navigate the world and inspire progress. The Polaris Program has partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and El Sistema USA ® to create the Harmony of Resilience. This partnership is grounded in a shared belief in the power of human resilience and pursuit of extraordinary goals. Inspired by the universal language of music and the relentless fight against childhood cancers and diseases, this moment was created with the hope of inspiring the next generation to look towards the stars. Not just to dream, but to overcome, persevere, and achieve the seemingly impossible. Both organizations can be supported at https://polarisprogram.com/music/.
To learn more about Polaris Dawn, visit https://polarisprogram.com/dawn/ and follow the mission on X (@PolarisProgram), and Instagram (@PolarisProgram).
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