The Polaris Dawn mission, commanded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, successfully completed a five-day mission, culminating in a splashdown of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 15.
The mission marked the first commercial spacewalk, with Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis conducting a “standup” spacewalk outside the Dragon capsule. The mission also achieved the highest altitude on a crewed Earth orbital mission since the Apollo 17 mission to the moon in 1972.
The crew conducted numerous experiments, focusing on the effects of space on the human body, and tested communications through SpaceX's Starlink constellation. The mission also involved live communication with SpaceX employees.
While the mission was initially planned to include a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA ultimately decided against any private servicing options due to concerns about potential damage to the telescope.
Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions in the overall Polaris program led and funded by Isaacman, with the final mission expected to be the first crewed launch of SpaceX's Starship vehicle. The details of the second mission remain uncertain, but Isaacman has stated that it will build upon the lessons learned from Polaris Dawn.