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Space: Launch of the private Polaris Dawn mission with a SpaceX ship
Space: Launch of the private Polaris Dawn mission with a SpaceX ship
(franceinfo)
This is a new crucial step in commercial space exploration. SpaceX launched, on Tuesday, September 10, its very first private mission with non-professional passengers, amateur astronauts who have trained for two and a half years.
It is the long-awaited moment of the launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida (United States). The SpaceX rocket takes off to cheers. The beginning of a flight full of promise because, on board the rocket, a historic mission awaits the passengers. To perform a few minutes of spacewalk, outside the ship. It is the very first for a crew from a private company. Among the four people sent into space, there are two women employed by SpaceX, a billionaire close to Elon Musk and a former pilot in the American Air Force.
Te have been training intensively for two years as part of the mission, called Polaris Dawn. In three days, the hatch of their ship will open and allow them to float into the vacuum of space. It is a full-scale test that is intended to mark a new milestone in commercial space exploration. At 1,400 km above sea level, it is also the furthest journey from Earth since the Apollo lunar missions.