A billionaire is on track to go farther into space than any human in 50 years. And he is not called by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. his name is Jared Isaacmanthe billionaire CEO of payment processing company Shift 4.
Jared Isaacman has bought three flights with SpaceX, the space tourism company owned by Elon Musk. The first of which is scheduled for this year and might put Isaacman and SpaceX on track to travel deeper into space Farther than any human has traveled in half a century.
The first flight of the mission series, called “Polaris” in honor of the North Star, is scheduled for later this year, will last up to five days and will include a crew consisting of Isaacman and three others. It is expected to travel to the Van Allen radiation belt, which has an inner band that extends from regarding 700 to 10,000 kilometers above Earthin part to help the crew investigate how radiation in space affects the human body.
Radiation remains a serious concern for space flights to the moon and mars, two destinations that SpaceX wants to travel to. Both journeys would require prolonged exposure to radiation, which can lead to “increased risk of cancer and degenerative diseases” and other long-term impacts, according to NASA.
According to CNN, when asked in a press conference on Monday, Isaacman assured that the Gemini missions of the 20th century, which established altitude records at the time, they are a benchmark for how high the first Polaris mission will travel. The Gemini missions reached a height of regarding 850 kilometers, that is, regarding three times higher than the orbit of the International Space Station. Isaacman declined to share a specific altitude for the flight. During that mission, the crew will conduct a spacewalk, a first for anyone traveling aboard a capsule. SpaceX Dragon.
Isaacman, who has already linked his name to SpaceX when it was revealed that he had been the first to buy a ticket for the company’s first tourist flight, dubbed “Inspiration 4,” said the first Dragon mission will be followed by a second Dragon mission shortly following. Those two adventures will pave the way for the first crewed mission on SpaceX’s next Starship rocket, the one that Elon Musk hopes will one day take people to Mars.
Up to now, the spacecraft has only carried astronauts on trips to low earth orbit, or the area of space that directly surrounds the Earth. The Inspiration 4 mission was Crew Dragon’s highest ever flight, at regarding 500 kilometers, and Monday’s announcement indicates that the first Polaris mission will travel at least twice that distance.
It’s unclear how much these missions will cost Isaacman, He did not want to comment on it. He also didn’t reveal how much he paid for the Inspiration 4 mission last year, though he said it was just under $200 million.
“Costs will come down as they have with any other innovative technology,” he said. “This is a contribution from both SpaceX and me towards the important goals we want to achieve with the Polaris program,” said the tycoon. in statements collected by NBC.
The Inspiration 4 mission was presented as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, raising a total of $243 million for the organization. Isaacman donated regarding 100 million dollars, Musk put up another 50 million and the rest was raised through public donations. The Polaris missions are also expected to support the same cause.
