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The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, a multiday orbital expedition set to feature the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens, is now scheduled to launch on Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.<\/p>\n
An operations plan released by the agency indicates a four-hour launch window opening at 3:33 am (0733 GMT) on Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with backup opportunities on Saturday and Sunday. Elon Musk’s company has not yet commented on the new launch window.<\/p>\n
Organized by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, the Polaris Dawn mission aims to reach a peak altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers)\u2014the highest for any crewed mission in over half a century, since NASA’s Apollo program.<\/p>\n
The highlight of the mission is set to be the first spacewalk by a four-member crew composed entirely of non-professional astronauts, who will be wearing sleek, newly developed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits.<\/p>\n
The launch was delayed twice last week, initially due to a technical issue with the launch tower and subsequently because of weather constraints affecting the splashdown phase.<\/p>\n
Complicating matters further, a separate SpaceX Falcon 9 mission lost its first stage booster, which typically performs a precision upright landing on a drone ship.<\/p>\n
This incident led to a temporary grounding, since lifted, of the prolific launch vehicle heavily relied upon by NASA and private companies for deploying astronauts and satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpaceX Polaris Dawn mission set to launch early Friday (2024, September 3)
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