In recent weeks, a major milestone was reached that hasn’t occurred in the last half-century. SpaceX, in conjunction with billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched into space with a four-person crew on its Crew Dragon capsule. Isaacman was on board along with his close friend, Scott Poteet, both of whom are non-professional astronauts. The milestones to be achieved will involve an actual spacewalk by these two men, which will be a first for a non-professional. Likewise, the spacecraft will achieve a long-distance space travel that’s not been seen since NASA’s moon mission over 50 years ago. Without question, this reflects one the more important private space flight missions to date, and it highlights how quickly advances in private space flight are occurring.
(The world needs reliable astronaut transportation–read more in this Bold story.)
For Isaacman, this isn’t his first long distance space travel voyage. In fact, it is his second with SpaceX, and it complements his own privately-funding mission in 2021. For Elon Musk, these private space flight missions support his longer-range vision of commercial space travel. Given this, it’s not surprising that the current space journey will be conducting over 40 different experiments during their five-day trip. The mission will also test out newly designed spacesuits that SpaceX hopes will provide greater comfort and safety. Notably, much still has to be learned before routine commercial space flights can take place. But step by step, private space flight missions like these are paving the way for this new reality.
The Isaacman-SpaceX Space Mission
The current long distance space travel was originally planned for an August 28 launch date. However, due to an initial helium leak and poor weather patterns in Florida, the Cape Canaveral send-off was delayed by NASA. Instead, the mission finally took place on 9/10 with a more favorable outlook for its splashdown return in five days. On board the Crew Dragon capsule is Isaacman, retired Air Force Lieutenant Scott Poteet, and two SpaceX engineers. Anna Menon is a SpaceX operations engineer while Sarah Gillis is in charge of astronaut training. The four will initially orbit 118 miles above Earth. However, progressive elliptical orbits will successfully take the space craft up to 870 miles out. This will represent the farthest any space mission, including private space flight missions, have gone since NASA’s trip to the moon.
The highlight of the current long distance space travel will be the spacewalk performed by Isaacman and Poteet. Once in stable orbit, all the crew members will wear their spacesuits as the air is cut off in the capsule. The doors of the capsule will then open, allowing the inside cabins to become part of the vacuum of space. Gillis and Menon will then stay inside the spacecraft for monitoring and safety purposes. Isaacman and Poteet will be the ones to actually perform the space walk outside. The purpose for this is not simply allowing the two men to experience a spacewalk but instead to test SpaceX’s new spacesuits. They have been redesigned to better protect wearers from micrometeoroids and to provide greater temperature control. This, as well as 40 other experiments, will be conducted, making it one of the more important private space flight missions.
An Impressive Billionaire Crew Member
For Isaacman, this space journey isn’t his first. In 2021, Isaacman led and financed Inspiration4, which represented the first trip to orbit the Earth without a professional astronaut. Though this journey wasn’t long distance space travel, it has an important mission, nonetheless. Isaacman used the space travel to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. In addition to himself, he brought a former St. Jude’s cancer patient as well as two space enthusiast contest winners. The trip saw the spacecraft perform a low-Earth orbit for three days before returning. Interestingly, the cancer patient who made the trip now works as a physician’s assistant at St. Jude’s. Isaacman’s private space flight missions are not simply vanity projects for the billionaire.
In terms of Isaacman’s background, his accomplishments as an entrepreneur are just as impressive. As a teen, Isaacman founded his own payment processing company, Shift4. The company today now handles roughly a third of all restaurant and hotel payment processing transactions. Isaacman also founded Draken International, which boasts the largest private felt of military aircraft in the country. Draken trains Air Force pilots, and after Isaacman sold his majority stake in the company, he has been a billionaire since. These achievements along with his background as a fighter jet pilot perked his interest in long distance space travel. And he has since been investing in private space flight missions as part of his passion.
Moving at Warp Speed
It’s worth noting that SpaceX continues to make headlines on a regular basis. NASA recently awarded SpaceX another contract as part of its private space flight missions program. SpaceX was also recently called upon to rescue two stranded Astronauts at the International Space Station. After Boeing’s Starliner had safety concerns, alternative plans had to be made to ensure the astronaut’s return. These events combined with the current long distance space travel places SpaceX in the lead for commercial space transportation. And the experiments being conducted all support Musk’s long-range plans to establish space flights to Mars. Musk seems to have won over critics at NASA, and it now seems he is recruiting private supporters as well.
The current long distance space travel, named the Polaris Dawn, represents bold moves toward private space journeys. As private space flight missions increase, the potential for more rapid progress in space commerce exists. With every mission, new experiments are being conducted. In addition to testing new spacesuits, brain imaging of the crew members using MRI will be tested in space. In addition, x-rays will be performed using existing radiation present in outer space. And the extended journey from Earth hopes to assess how radiation and micrometeoroids might affect spacecraft in general. Much more needs to be learned before space travel becomes routine. But private space flight missions are doing their part to help in this learning journey.
Outsourcing is essential for business growth–read why in this Bold story.
