A four-person crew of civilians is once again poised to take off on a risky — and potentially historic — mission into Earth’s radiation belts.
SpaceX is making another attempt to get Polaris Dawn — a risky mission that will send four civilians into the radiation belts and on a historic spacewalk — off the ground this week. The daring flight will aim to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than 3:38 a.m. ET Tuesday, with additional launch opportunities at 5:23 a.m. ET and 7:09 a.m. ET Tuesday. A SpaceX webcast of the event is expected begin around midnight the morning of the liftoff.
’s Apollo program ended in 1972. SpaceX is also juggling Polaris Dawn with other obligations at its launch site in Florida. The company is expected to help get ’s Europa Clipper — a notable robotic mission set to explore an icy moon orbiting Jupiter — on its way in October. But SpaceX’s launch site in Florida is currently set up for a crewed spaceflight — with the pad configured for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon and the special crew access arm that allows astronauts to board the vehicle before flight.
is expected to give an update on the Europa Clipper mission at 4 p.m. ET Monday.
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