Isaacman and another crew member plan to test SpaceX’s new extravehicular space suits in the first-ever commercial space walk. The suits are designed for increased mobility, and a mask display shows information such as internal pressure levels and temperature.
It’s not Isaacman’s first time in space.
Three years ago, he helped finance and led a SpaceX trip on the company’s first private crewed mission, along with a group of three other civilians.
But his latest mission, called Polaris Dawn, is significant, both because of the space walk and because the crew plans to travel farther than any other mission since the Apollo era. It’s also an especially risky mission, as the crew is set to fly through a radiation belt.
The group had plans to depart from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this week, though the event was delayed because of weather conditions.
The new launch date remains unknown, as the reusable booster of one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets failed Wednesday while landing on a drone ship at sea. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, and SpaceX may need to seek approval for other launches.
Meanwhile, Isaacman said on social media Thursday that the crew was “ready to launch within approximately 30 hours of receiving a favorable forecast.”
The mission is set to last about five days, and three other nonastronaut crew members plan to join the mission, including the retired US Air Force pilot Scott Poteet and the SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
