TLDR · SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

SPACEX LAUNCHES POLARIS DAWN, WHERE ASTRONAUTS WILL VENTURE FARTHER THAN ANY HUMANS IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS

techcrunch.com4 min read

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

The Polaris Dawn mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The mission will travel to the highest altitude humans have traveled since the Apollo 17 mission to the moon in 1972. The four-person crew will fly through the high-energy Van Allen belt and also attempt the first spacewalk not involving government astronauts. They will be testing new extravehicular activity suits designed by SpaceX. The mission is a partnership between tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX - neither party has disclosed the cost of the flight.