Polaris Dawn mission launched 1 year ago today. Recapping mission's biggest moments Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORKSeptember 10, 2025 at 4:53 AM 0 One year ago, billionaire Jared Isaacman and his crew of three private Polaris Dawn astronauts boarded a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a mission that would r...
- - Polaris Dawn mission launched 1 year ago today. Recapping mission's biggest moments
Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY NETWORKSeptember 10, 2025 at 4:53 AM
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One year ago, billionaire Jared Isaacman and his crew of three private Polaris Dawn astronauts boarded a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a mission that would redefine the possibilities for private human spaceflight.
When the Dragon spacecraft reached orbit Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, the vehicle carried the astronauts further into space than humans have reached in more than half a century. Two days after launching, Isaacman and his crew further made history: Becoming the first nonprofessional astronauts to open the hatch of their vehicle and complete a spacewalk by exposing themselves to the vacuum of space.
But the milestones they reached weren't just for bragging rights: The Polaris Dawn crew's successes helped to set the stage for future human space exploration missions, many of which will increasingly rely on private rocket companies like SpaceX.
And for Isaacman, 42, who commissioned the mission along with billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, the spaceflight catapulted him into the public eye and may have even put him on the radar of a soon-to-be-reelected President Donald Trump. Though Isaacman's short-lived bid to become NASA's next administrator ended with Trump pulling the nomination, the longtime aviator said his spaceflight days are far from behind him.
1 / 16SpaceX launches Starship on flight 10 from Starbase in South Texas. See photosSpaceX's Starship rocket is seen Tuesday, Aug. 26 after lifting off from Starbase, Texas, as seen from South Padre Island. The megarocket roared into the skies on its 10th test flight, following a string of explosive failures that cast doubt about its ability to realize Elon Musk's vision of colonizing Mars.
On the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Polaris Dawn mission, here's a recap of its biggest moment.
Jared Isaacman leads Polaris Dawn mission. Here's a look at the crew
The Polaris Dawn astronauts are all smiles while preparing for their reentry into Earth's atmosphere Sunday to land off the Florida coast.
Prior to Polaris Dawn, Isaacman was the only member of the Polaris Dawn crew to have been to outer space before, having served in 2021 as mission commander of Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian mission to space.
Under his command was a crew that included pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew with the Thunderbirds; and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both lead space operations engineers at SpaceX.
SpaceX Dragon reaches historic heights
The Dragon spacecraft bearing the crew launched Sept. 10, 2024 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A view of Earth and the Dragon capsule's Skywalker shortly after the Polaris Dawn crew launched into orbit on Sept. 10, 2024.
It was a mission that pushed boundaries beginning on day one when the vehicle carried the private astronauts farther into space than humans have reached in more than half a century.
Ascending to 870 miles above Earth's surface took the crew to a height higher than any crewed vehicle has traveled since NASA's Apollo era came to an end in the 1970s. The craft also surpassed the height reached by NASA's Gemini 11 in the 1960s, SpaceX said.
The ascent even marked the highest that the SpaceX Dragon has flown to date, SpaceX said in a day one update.
Climbing to such a height – three times higher than the International Space Station – took the vehicle through the treacherous inner regions of Earth's Van Allen radiation belts. The region is one astronauts will have to traverse on future missions to the moon and Mars, and now SpaceX knows that its Dragon and its specially designed spacesuits are capable of doing so.
For Menon and Gillis, they are not only the first SpaceX employees to travel to space, but have traveled higher than any other women in history.
Polaris Dawn astronauts conduct private spacewalk
The spacecraft didn't linger at the transcendent height, but eventually descended to a cruising altitude of 435 miles above Earth as the astronauts began preparing for what may have been the biggest test of the mission: completing a spacewalk.
SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis, a mission specialist on Polaris Dawn, ascends the hatch to exit the SpaceX Dragon during Thursday's spacewalk. The crew members are now the first private astronauts to conduct a spacewalk.
Two days into the mission, the Polaris Dawn crew members became the first nonprofessional astronauts to venture outside a spacecraft while in orbit.
The maneuver required extensive preparation to safely perform. Shortly after liftoff, the Dragon's pressure began to slowly lower while oxygen levels inside the cabin increased, helping purge nitrogen from the crew members' bloodstreams and lower the risk of decompression sickness, SpaceX said.
Polaris Dawn Flight Day 3 UpdateEarly Thursday morning at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed the world's first spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 732.2 km above Earth. Shortly after arriving in space on… pic.twitter.com/ASEH6G3sR9
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
By the morning of Thursday, Sept. 12, the crew donned extravehicular activity (EVA) suits designed by SpaceX, completed suit leak checks and vented the Dragon to match the vacuum of space. Because the Dragon does not have an airlock, the entire cabin was depressurized and all four astronauts were suited up in the EVA suits to receive oxygen through tethers.
By around 8 a.m. ET, Isaacman and Gillis exited the Dragon capsule separately for about 10 minutes each to take in the endless black expanse of outer space while tethered and holding onto handrails. The spacewalk was intended to test the capabilities and mobility of SpaceX's new suits, which the company designed to protect astronauts against radiation and extreme temperatures.
Jared Isaacman emerges Thursday from the SpaceX Dragon during a historic commercial spacewalk 435 miles above Earth.
Poteet and Menon remained strapped in their seats monitoring vital support systems. But because all four crew members were exposed to the vacuum of space, they are all considered to be part of the first-ever spacewalk conducted by anyone other than government astronauts.
"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said as he emerged from the hatch. In response, SpaceX ground crews in Hawthorne, California, could be heard on a livestream bursting into applause.
Anna Menon reads children's book from orbit, Sarah Gillis plays violin
Anna Menon, a mission specialist and medical officer on the Polaris Dawn mission, poses with "Kisses from Space," a children's book she co-authored. Menon read the book Wednesday from orbit.
The mission may be one for the history books, but it was filled with some touching personal moments as well.
Along the way, mission specialist Anna Menon took time to read from orbit a children's book she co-authored to her two kids back on Earth. Menon's son and daughter tuned in for the virtual book reading, as did some youngsters at at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Menon, also the medical officer for the spaceflight, was inspired to write "Kisses from Space" while training for the Polaris Dawn mission as a way to stay connected with her children. The story is one of a mother dragon who returns home after an out-of-this-world adventure to regale her children with tails of her exploits.
"It's a story of how love can overcome any distance," Menon told USA TODAY ahead of the mission.
Gillis, a classically trained violinist, also had the opportunity to record herself performing music from "Star Wars" on her violin, accompanied by students from El Sistema, which provides music education.
Crew members test Starlink, conduct 40 scientific tests
The entirety of the mission represented a new chapter of space exploration as companies like SpaceX increasingly seek to conduct ventures that were once almost exclusively the realm of space agencies like NASA.
Along the journey, the crew tested a new laser-based satellite communication system using Starlink by making multiple calls to Earth. They also conducted nearly 40 scientific experiments – many of which aimed to understand the human body's reaction to long spaceflights as NASA and other space agencies set their sights on destinations like Mars.
Polaris Dawn crew lands in Dragon
The Dragon capsule is photographed aboard the rescue vessel after it splashed down early Sunday off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida following the crewed Polaris Dawn mission. The four astronauts spent five days in orbit on the vehicle conducting tests to pave the wave for future deep-space missions.
The Dragon splashed down Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 off the Florida Coast, officially bringing the Polaris Dawn mission to an end.
Once it completed a deorbit burn and re-entered Earth's atmosphere, SpaceX said the Dragon cruised over Florida before deploying four parachutes for the pre-dawn water landing in Dry Tortugas, a small island located 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, which the U.S. government has renamed as the Gulf of America.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule splashes down at 3:37 a.m. Sunday off the Florida coast, bringing to an end a historic commercial spaceflight known as the Polaris Dawn mission. The private crew completed the first-ever spacewalk by nonprofessional astronauts and reached heights no humans have reached in more than 50 years.What's next for Isaacman, the Polaris Program?
Isaacman's Polaris Dawn mission was intended to be the first of three missions he planned to fund under the Polaris Program. While he set those missions aside when he was nominated to lead NASA, it's unclear just when, or if, he'll pick them back up now that he's out of the running for the role.
The second mission, if and when it happens, "will continue to expand the boundaries of future human spaceflight missions, in-space communications, and scientific research," according to the program's website. Additional details, including a launch date, have not yet been announced.
Should the day come that the third and final Polaris Program mission launches, it's intended to be the first human spaceflight on the SpaceX Starship rocket. The gargantuan rocket, which has so far only undergone uncrewed tests, is the centerpiece of Musk's vision of sending the first humans to Mars, and is also critical in NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon's surface.
1 / 45Space photos: Stunning images you have to seeNASA and SpaceX teamed up to launch a Dragon spacecraft packed with science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Launch was at 2:45 a.m. EDT Sunday, August 24, 2025 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
But in previous comments on social media, Isaacmen left the door open to going to space again.
"I have not flown my last mission," Isaacman said in a post May 31 on social media site X after Trump pulled his nomination to head NASA. "Whatever form that may ultimately take – but I remain incredibly optimistic that humanity's greatest spacefaring days lie ahead."
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Polaris Dawn mission launch anniversary is today. What it accomplished
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