SpaceX.com reported the landing and mission as follows, “After nearly five days on orbit, Dragon and the Polaris Dawn crew safely splashed down at 3:36 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 15 off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, completing the first human spaceflight mission of the Polaris Program.
MISSION OBJECTIVES
Falcon 9 launched Polaris Dawn to low-Earth orbit on Tuesday, September 10 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During their multi-day mission to orbit, Dragon and the crew reached 1,408.1 km – the highest Earth orbit ever flown since the Apollo program, participated in the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA) from Dragon wearing SpaceX-developed EVA suits. They have also conducted ~36 research studies and experiments from 31 partner institutions designed to advance both human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight, and tested Starlink laser-based communications in space.
THE CREW
The Polaris Dawn crew combined their expertise, knowledge, and passion for spaceflight to further human space exploration. This was the first human spaceflight for Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon. Mission Commander Jared Isaacman previously flew to space as commander of Inspiration4. This was also the first time two SpaceX employees will be part of a human spaceflight crew, providing valuable insight to future missions on the road to making life multiplanetary.”
Please use the following spaceX.com link for a replay of the launch and description of the mission.
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