Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
The Polaris Dawn mission, a milestone in private space exploration, concluded successfully on Sunday with a splashdown off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, at around 1:06 pm IST.
The mission, launched on September 10 aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon, reached a remarkable altitude of 870 miles—making it the highest non-lunar crewed flight since 1972.
The crew conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk, testing SpaceX's new spacesuits. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis spent two hours outside the spacecraft, collecting data for future missions.
Credit : SpaceX
Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, the crew included Scott "Kidd" Poteet as mission pilot and Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis as mission specialists, all playing critical roles during the mission.
Over the five-day journey, the crew completed nearly 40 scientific experiments focused on understanding human health in space, including studies on microgravity's effects on human physiology.
During the historic spacewalk, the crew tested the mobility and safety features of SpaceX's newly developed spacesuits, providing vital information for future space travel beyond Earth.
Credit : SpaceX
The crew also successfully tested Starlink's satellite communications system, streaming data from space to Earth in real-time, showcasing new technology for future long-distance missions.
The data gathered from this mission will contribute to understanding the impact of space travel on the human body, helping advance future space exploration efforts, including potential missions to Mars.