The Polaris Dawn mission, carrying billionaire Jared Isaacman and his team of three, lifted off at 5:23 a.m. from Cape Canaveral, Florida|@SpaceX|X
SpaceX launched an all-private astronaut crew into orbit on Tuesday with historic plans to perform the first spacewalk by commercial astronauts and travel farther from Earth than any human has since the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 70s.
The ambitious Polaris Dawn space mission, carrying billionaire Jared Isaacman and his team of three, lifted off at 5:23 a.m. from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a Dragon spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
It has reached an altitude of 755 miles, the highest in over 50 years, surpassing the previous record held by NASA astronauts in 1966.
Two crew members, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, now hold the record for traveling farther from Earth than any other women in history. Issacman and Gillis will attempt the daring spacewalk on Thursday.
The mission also aims to test new space technology, including SpaceX’s upgraded spacesuits. The crew will conduct about 40 experiments.