Space - The Final Frontier

[Chuckanut]

Link for live coverage of Starliner launch using YouTube

 

[CaptTom]

Starliner Crew Flight has been scrubbed.

 

[tulak]

More progress from SpaceX. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

Commanded and funded by private astronaut Jared Isaacman, the mission seeks to test new technologies that will further the expansion of humanity into space. Among the objectives are pushing the performance of the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, performing the first commercial spacewalk in a new spacesuit developed by SpaceX, and testing Starlink laser-based communications in space.

"Our first objective is to travel farther from the Earth and the last time humans walked on the Moon with Apollo 17, more than 50 years ago," Isaacman said during an online chat hosted by the social network site X. "So we target an apogee of 1,400 kilometers. That puts us just inside the Van Allen radiation belt. It's an awesome opportunity for us to get some data, but really it's about pushing beyond our comfort zone."

The Polaris Dawn mission does not have a launch date, but SpaceX officials confirmed that it is now the next crewed mission the company will fly. There are likely several scheduling issues at play, but it's possible the mission could launch within the next six to eight weeks.

Here’s why a rich guy going to space for a second time actually matters

Polaris Dawn will be the first time that SpaceX employees have actually gone to space.

arstechnica.com