The 58-year-old altitude record set by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission has been broken by the Polaris Dawn mission, which was launched on September 10, 2024, in a historic accomplishment. Overtaking the previous record of 1,373 kilometres (853 miles), the four-person crew, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, successfully achieved a high altitude of 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) above Earth.
In collaboration with Isaacman’s startup Shift4 Payments, SpaceX and Isaacman launched the Polaris Dawn project intending to conduct ground-breaking scientific research and push the edge of human spaceflight. The crew conducted several experiments and got ready for a potential private spacewalk during their five days in orbit on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship.
Achieving an altitude record that had not been surpassed since the Apollo period was the main goal of the mission. The crew’s ascent to such a height allowed them to obtain important information about radiation exposure, space weather, and the implications of extended space travel for human health.
The accomplishment of this for human spaceflight is enormous, according to Isaacman. It demonstrates that humans are still capable of pushing the envelope and conducting unprecedented space exploration.
When the Gemini 11 mission employed “tethered flight” to reach a high altitude in 1966, it broke the previous record. The Gemini 11 crew used a spent rocket stage as a tether, allowing them to rotate the rope to ascend higher.
However, a series of carefully thought-out orbital manoeuvres allowed the Polaris Dawn mission to reach its record altitude. The Crew Dragon spacecraft reached its maximum height on the third day of the mission after progressively climbing higher throughout numerous orbits.
SpaceX, a prominent participant in the commercial space sector, achieved another noteworthy milestone with the Polaris Dawn mission. Astronauts have been launched to the International Space Station and scientific research has been carried out in orbit thanks to the company’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Commercial space exploration is becoming more and more popular as a result of the success of the Polaris Dawn mission. It has shown that private businesses can be extremely important to human spaceflight advancement and cosmic exploration.
On September 15, the crew of Polaris Dawn made their triumphant return to Earth, and their accomplishment was heralded as a significant milestone in space exploration. Not only did the mission smash a long-standing record, but it also cleared the path for crewed trips to the Moon, Mars, and beyond in the future.