SpaceX, Polaris Dawn discuss ‘milestone mission’ from Space Coast

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – SpaceX and Polaris Dawn held a news conference Monday afternoon, discussing a mission planned to launch from Kennedy Space Center later this month.

The commercial mission is scheduled to liftoff on Aug. 27 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“After more than two years of training, we are excited to embark on this mission,” said Jared Isaacman, commander of the Polaris Dawn mission.’

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

The Polaris Dawn crew includes Isaacman, Mission Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon.

According to Polaris Dawn, they plan to reach the following milestones for commercial spaceflight:

• Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt.
• Attempting the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
• Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites.
• Conducting around 40 experiments for critical “scientific research” to gather information on human health on Earth and during future long-duration space flights.

Gillis and Menon are SpaceX engineers who helped develop Dragon.

“I dreamed of going to space from a very young age, but I’ve also just been so happy and grateful to contribute to it in any way,” Menon told News 6 reporter James Sparvero.

Gillis then added that a huge of their job is pretending to be an astronaut to think about what they would care about.

“I know exactly what goes into the testing, and the design, and the rigor behind absolutely everything in the spacecraft,” Gillis said. “So, very, very excited to fly on my favorite Dragon spacecraft.”

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: