The private Space mission “Polaris Dawn” is finished. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft landed in the sea on Sunday morning (CEST), as shown in live images provided by the company. According to previous SpaceX information, the spacecraft was supposed to land near the southern tip of Florida.
The four-man crew led by billionaire Jared Isaacman was launched into space from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday and had at times moved up to 1,400 kilometers away from Earth – further than any astronaut since the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s and three times as far as the International Space Station ISS.
On Thursday, two crew members left the capsule for several minutes of extravehicular activity – as the first amateur astronauts without a government contract. The aim was to conduct practical tests for the high-tech spacesuits developed by SpaceX. After the end of their spacewalk, the crew conducted a series of scientific experiments and tested the connection with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system.
In the coming years, Isaacman and SpaceX boss Elon Musk two more missions as part of the “Polaris” program. This includes the first manned flight of the new SpaceX rocket Starship, which is still under development. The cost of the program is not known. (AFP)
