Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Tropical Storm Erick to rapidly strengthen, may become major hurricane Chevron right
Heat wave to push temps near 100 F across central, eastern US Chevron right

Columbus, OH

72°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

72°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Astronomy

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission just made history. But the riskiest part is still to come

SpaceX confirmed that the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft reached the highest ever orbit around Earth, surpassing a record set during NASA’s earliest days.

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

Published Sep 11, 2024 10:13 AM EDT | Updated Sep 11, 2024 10:13 AM EDT

Copied

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a crew of four was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 10, marking the start of the Polaris Dawn Mission, which looks to perform the first commercial spacewalk.

(CNN) — SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission kicked off early Tuesday, launching a four-person crew of civilian astronauts into orbit. And hours later they have already made history: reaching the highest orbit around Earth and surpassing a record set during NASA’s earliest days.

The company confirmed that the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying the crew reached its peak altitude of 1,400.7 kilometers (870 miles) at 9:19 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

That distance surpassed the record set by NASA’s 1966 Gemini 11 mission, which reached 853 miles (1,373 kilometers) during its trek around Earth.

NASA’s Apollo missions traveled farther but did not enter a traditional orbit around Earth. They were destined for the moon, which lies a quarter million miles away from our planet. The Polaris Dawn mission also marks the farthest any human has journeyed since the final Apollo mission in 1972 — and the farthest into space a woman has ever traveled.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Resilience capsule, carrying the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 10. (Photo credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

An unprecedented spacewalk

SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew may be celebrating their milestone, but the riskiest endeavors are still ahead for this five-day mission — which is designed to push the limits of commercial space travel and help test out technologies that SpaceX may use on excursions deeper into the cosmos.

As soon as Thursday morning, the Polaris Dawn team — which includes Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, the financer of the mission; his close friend and former US Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis — will attempt to conduct the first commercial spacewalk.

The groundbreaking event, set to kick off early on the crew’s third day in space, is expected to take place while the crew is orbiting about 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth.

Isaacman, Menon, Poteet and Gillis will be exposed to the vacuum of space as their Crew Dragon capsule is depressurized and a circular hatch is opened. And two crew members, Gillis and Isaacman, will exit the spacecraft during the roughly two hours that the vehicle is left with an open doorway into the vast expanse.

The crew will be shielded from the unforgiving void only by SpaceX’s new Extravehicular Activity — or EVA — suits. The spacesuits  were designed and developed in 2 ½ years, which is incredibly quick by aerospace standards.

In comparison, NASA has been trying for well over a decade to secure replacements for the aging spacesuits aboard the International Space Station. Those suits were designed 40 years ago.

The Crew Dragon capsule is already putting the crew through a lengthy “pre-breathe” process, which prepares the astronauts’ bodies for the spacewalk. It works by slowly purging nitrogen from the crew members’ blood so that the gas does not bubble up in their bloodstream as the pressure changes inside the vehicle.

The pre-breathe process aims to avoid decompression sickness — the same dangerous and potentially fatal illness that scuba divers may face if they attempt to surface too quickly.

The pre-breathe protocol the Polaris Dawn crew is undergoing is entirely unlike what is carried out on the International Space Station. The space station has special air locks where astronauts can undergo a rapid pre-breathing process before beginning their spacewalks. It takes only a couple of hours.

The Polaris Dawn crew’s pre-breathe routine, however, will last about 45 hours, Gillis told CNN, as the oxygen content in the cabin slowly increases while the pressure decreases.

“What is really cool about this (pre-breathing) profile is it actually, in many ways, is much less risky than what the standard is on the space station,” Gillis told CNN. “It’s like opening a can of soda pop — and you want to open the can (and have) none of the bubbles to come out because the pressure outside of the can is equal to what’s inside.”

By lowering the pressure inside Crew Dragon, Gillis said, and putting on their spacesuits just as the ambient pressure equals the suit pressure — the crew members can better mitigate any risk of unwanted bubbles.

The biggest challenge comes after the spacewalk concludes: closing the hatch on board the Crew Dragon capsule, getting pressurization to back to normal and safely returning to Earth.

“You should be nervous about (this mission),” former NASA astronaut and SpaceX adviser Garrett Reisman told CNN in August. “Anytime you try something for the first time there are significant risks. I’ll feel much better when they are back inside with the hatch closed and latched.”

Read more:

SpaceX launches Polaris Dawn crew on daring excursion
Boeing Starliner capsule returns home without astronauts
Ancient, massive asteroid likely hit Jupiter’s moon Ganymede

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Report a Typo

Weather News

Astronomy

'Jellyfish cloud' soars over California during SpaceX launch

Jun. 17, 2025
Weather News

New Mexico wildfires force evacuations, spark air quality alerts

Jun. 17, 2025
Weather News

'Cicada attack' blamed for car crash in Ohio

Jun. 16, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

Deadly West Virginia flooding won't be the last of this week

18 hours ago

Severe Weather

Rounds of severe storms to continue in central and eastern US

1 hour ago

Recreation

Tourist falls trying to view Kilauea eruption

1 day ago

Weather Forecasts

Heat wave to push temps near 100 F across central, eastern US

16 hours ago

Astronomy

Will the Aurora Borealis be visible this week?

1 day ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Recreation

Northern US states try to woo travelers with ‘Canadians-only’ deals

1 day ago

Astronomy

Summer solstice: Everything to know about the year's longest day

1 week ago

Weather News

5 times the American flag survived extreme weather

1 day ago

Weather News

Reopening a 688-year-old murder case

1 day ago

Weather News

6,000-year-old skeletons found in Colombia have unique DNA

1 day ago

AccuWeather Astronomy SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission just made history. But the riskiest part is still to come
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...