YazataSep 11, 2024 01:43 AM (This post was last modified: Sep 11, 2024 04:35 AM by Yazata.)
Polaris Dawn launched successfully last night after an unscheduled two hour weather hold, and is now in orbit. The launch appeared to be beautiful and flawless. The booster (B1083) successfully landed on JRTI out in the Atlantic. (It was 1083's fourth flight.)
"After a successful launch by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. ET, the crew took off their spacesuits and began their multi-day mission.
Shortly after liftoff, the crew began a two-day pre-breathe protocol in preparation for their anticipated spacewalk on Thursday, September 12 (Flight Day 3). During this time, Dragon’s pressure slowly lowers while oxygen levels inside the cabin increase, helping purge nitrogen from the crew’s bloodstreams. This will help lower the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) during all spacewalk operations.
About two hours into Flight Day 1, the crew enjoyed their first on-orbit meals before engaging in the mission’s first science and research block and testing Starlink, which lasted about 3.5 hours.
Dragon made its first pass through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region where Earth’s magnetic field is weaker, allowing more high-energy particles from space to penetrate closer to Earth. Mission control operators and the crew worked closely to monitor and respond to the vehicle’s systems across all high-apogee phases of flight, particularly through the SAA region.
Mid-day, the crew settled in for their first sleep period in space, during which Dragon will perform its first apogee raising burn. Orbiting Earth higher than any humans in over 50 years, the crew will rest for about eight hours ahead of a busy day on Flight Day 2.
Most excitingly, during its first orbit, Dragon reached an apogee of approximately 1,216 kilometers, making Polaris Dawn the highest Dragon mission flown to date. Following a healthy systems checkout, the crew and mission control will monitor the spacecraft ahead of the vehicle raising itself to an elliptical orbit of 190 x 1,400 kilometers at the start of Flight Day 2."
YazataSep 11, 2024 09:36 PM (This post was last modified: Sep 11, 2024 09:39 PM by Yazata.)
Polaris Dawn completed an apogee raising burn that took the highest point in its orbit to some 1,400 km, within the lower reaches of the Van Allen radiation belts. They completed several orbits visiting these elevations while taking scientific observations.
Then Polaris Dawn conducted an apogee lowering burn this morning taking them to a healthier ~700 km apogee in preparation for their spacewalk.
The spacewalk is scheduled to start Thursday Sept 12 at 2:23 AM EDT/Wed Sept 11 at 11:23 PM PDT tonight.
It will be livestreamed for everyone's viewing enjoyment. It will be the first real life employment of the new SpaceX spacesuits, that have previously only been tested in vacuum chambers. I'll be watching.
"The Polaris Dawn crew began Flight Day 2 with an incredible milestone – Dragon reached an apogee of more than 1,400 kilometers, marking the farthest humans have traveled in space since the completion of the Apollo program over 50 years ago. Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon also became the first two women to have travelled this far in space! Mission Commander Jared Isaacman also passed the torch to the NASA Artemis crew, saying he’s looking forward to their upcoming flight.
After completing six orbits of Earth at this altitude, Dragon performed a series of descent burns to reach an orbit of ~190 x 700 km for Thursday’s spacewalk while simultaneously continuing to safely lower its interior’s pressure, bringing the cabin environment closer to conditions required for the EVA. The crew also spent a few hours demonstrating the suit’s pressurized mobility, verifying positions and accessibility in microgravity along with preparing the cabin for the EVA.
In addition to EVA prep, the crew conducted a series of activities on-orbit, including time dedicated to science and research. The crew focused on monitoring initial changes to eye sight and ocular health, studying how fluid shifts and exposure to microgravity affect blood flow, and assessed how medications are processed by the body while on-orbit.
The entire crew met with representatives from Folds of Honor — an organization providing educational scholarships to spouses and children of America's fallen and disabled military service-members and first responders — honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of the United States.
Anna then read her book, Kisses from Space, to a group of St. Jude patients and her family, followed by a Q&A session. Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East joined the crew via video transmission to host the book reading.
Jared, Kidd, Sarah, and Anna ended their day with individual family calls conducted over Starlink connections and preparing a special message for fans later in the mission before settling in for a good night’s sleep ahead of tomorrow’s world-first commercial spacewalk."
YazataSep 13, 2024 05:08 PM (This post was last modified: Sep 13, 2024 07:50 PM by Yazata.)
Music brought to you by laser beam from outer space!
During test of Crew Dragon's laser integration with Starlink's worldwide low latency comms. Violinist going 16,000 mph in space, accompanied simultaneously by musicians in LA, Boston, Sweden, Brazil, Venezuela, Uganda and Haiti !! Playing as if they were all in the same room!
Sarah Gillis spacewalked yesterday, then today she did this! Women with Space Hair can do anything!
Sep 10, 2024 02:45 AM
(This post was last modified: Sep 10, 2024 03:08 AM by Yazata.)
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