SpaceX Postpones Polaris Dawn Mission Due to Helium Leak Detection

Tuesday 27 August 2024 - 11:00

SpaceX's highly anticipated Polaris Dawn mission, featuring a crew of four private citizens, has been delayed after a helium leak was detected, pushing the launch to later this week at the earliest.

The mission's crew includes billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. They were slated to embark on a pioneering mission that would have marked the first spacewalk conducted by a fully civilian crew.

Scheduled to launch early Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission faced an unexpected setback. SpaceX announced on X that a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical forced a delay, with the earliest possible launch now set for Wednesday.

Despite the delay, SpaceX emphasized that the Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft remain in optimal condition, and the crew is prepared for their multi-day journey into low-Earth orbit.

The helium leak is a minor setback for SpaceX, which has been successfully transporting NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station since 2020. SpaceX first ventured into private space travel in 2021 when it carried its inaugural group of private citizens into orbit, a mission also funded and flown by Isaacman to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The Polaris Dawn mission, the first of three planned spaceflights funded by Isaacman, includes a historic spacewalk scheduled for the third day. During this event, two crew members will exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft tethered to safety lines. Given the spacecraft lacks a pressurized airlock, all four astronauts will don newly designed spacesuits, and the entire capsule will be depressurized, exposing it to the vacuum of space.

This mission is also set to break new ground by reaching an altitude of 870 miles, three times the orbital height of the International Space Station. This trajectory will take the Crew Dragon through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, an area filled with high-energy radiation particles trapped by Earth's magnetosphere.

The data gathered on space radiation’s impact on the astronauts and spacecraft during this mission could prove invaluable for SpaceX's future endeavors, including potential missions to the moon and Mars, both of which would involve traversing the Van Allen belts.

Polaris Dawn remains a significant step in Isaacman’s ambitious partnership with SpaceX, although the details and objectives of the subsequent missions in this series have yet to be disclosed.