Falcon Flyer Winter 2024-2025 | Page 15

Polaris Dawn Mission

SpaceX launched the Polaris Dawn mission on September 10, 2024 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Poteet, and mission specialists Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. An orbital altitude of about 870 miles was reached, which is the highest Earth orbit reached by humans since the Apollo missions. 36 experiments were conducted that focused on the effects of space radiation, decompression sickness, and spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome(SANS). 

Conclusion

Overall, SpaceX has been working on many exciting projects and missions. Their work has redefined the roles of private companies in space exploration. Not only have they successfully launched the Polaris Dawn Mission and conducted crucial research, they are also looking to push the boundaries of human exploration by putting the first humans on Mars. 

One of the largest issues with long-term life on Mars is the lack of oxygen and water on the planet. The planet's atmosphere is about 95 percent carbon dioxide and the surface water is in the form of ice that is contaminated by toxic perchlorates. This is where closed-loop life support systems come in, which SpaceX envisions can recycle air and water. This would be done by using bioregenerative systems to gain breathable oxygen and purifying water in a water recycling process.

The next question you may ask is - if we can terraform the environment of Mars to suit our needs, why can’t we do that to the environmentally at risk parts of the Earth. This is due to a combination of factors, including economic and political issues, as well as constant human activity on our home planet. Transforming the environment on certain parts of the Earth would require major financial investments that some governments may not be willing to invest, and even with these investments many of the issues with Earth’s environment are caused by ongoing human activity such as carbon emissions. This makes environmental challenges on Earth a completely different challenge than on Mars.