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Polaris Dawn crew splashes down overnight off Florida’s coast

Astronauts return to Earth off coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida

Polaris Dawn crew (Daniel Dahm, Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

After a history-making mission, the crew of Polaris Dawn returned to to Earth early Sunday morning.

The four-person crew and their dragon capsule splashed down around 3:36 a.m. off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida.

Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center at 5:23 a.m. on Sept. 10.

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On Thursday, a tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk to help test SpaceX’s new spacesuits.

This spacewalk was simple and quick — the hatch was open barely a half hour — compared with the drawn-out affairs conducted by NASA.

During the mission, SpaceX also aimed to test in-space communications, reach a higher altitude than even the International Space Station and conduct critical research about the impact of long-term space flights on human health.

ClickOrlando will stream the splashdown live when it happens.


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