SpaceX launches Polaris Dawn crew on daring excursion into Earth's radiation belts

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: CNN

CNN
—
SpaceX’s latest mission — a bold and risky trek into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts by a four-person crew of civilians who will also aim to conduct the first commercial spacewalk — just took flight.

The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, lifted off at 5:23 a.m. ET.

SpaceX livestreamed the event on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk purchased in 2022.

As the capsule entered Earth’s orbit, ground controllers, led by SpaceX launch director Frank Messina, offered words of encouragement to the Polaris Dawn crew, which includes the first SpaceX employees ever to venture to space.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/10/science/polaris-dawn-mission-spacex-launch/index.html

[2naSalit]

1. They'd better hope...

That there isn't a major solar flare while they're up there.

[jimfields33]

8. I bet they at least return to earth. It's rather embarrassing that we have astronauts stranded up in space.

Let’s hope this company is better than that other one.

[sakabatou]

2. Even after this mission, people will STILL say we can't go through the belts.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

5. FLerfs are idiots

Gave up on fools years ago. They beat you with experience at their level and don't care about yours.

Buzz should punch more of their CT addled faces.

[AZ8theist]

11. I agree with you 1000000%

The worst are the moon landing deniers. They piss me off.
I was alive back then and watched every single moon mission. I was obsessed with it.
We have pictures of the landing sites from the LRO, and routinely bounce lasers off the reflectors left there, yet the flat heads say it was all "faked".
My great fear is that with AI, some asshole will make a video of Neil Armstrong denying we went there.

Some people are just so fucking stupid it's beyond belief.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

16. It's almost enough to make Tenzin Gyatso grab his golf clubs

and holler "fuck Karma, I'm sick of idiots! I'll climb the hill again!" and start swinging. Did you know his woods are made from scraps saved from the trunk of the Bodhi Tree?*

*Not really. I can make up stupid shite too.

[AZ8theist]

17. I wish I understood what you're talking about......

But I'm sure it was pretty funny!

[C0RI0LANUS]

3. Maybe the SpaceX crew will return as the Fantastic Four

[Ursus Rex]

7. I said that on another thread but no one seemed to get it

Even the SpaceX suits looks like the FF's spacesuits in some renditions...

[Orrex]

15. We'd need the world's smartest man for that

All we've got is Elon, whose superpower is his unsurpassed masturbatory exhibitionism.

[prodigitalson]

21. Leon Smuk

[Voltaire2]

4. I think we ought to put them all in orbit.

And just leave them up there.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

6. Yes, we should

?si=i7RDGEVp7xHiFuKG

[slightlv]

9. Is Elon the owner of space X?

Man, if so, I wouldn't want to trust going up into one of his capsules. Isn't there anyone else involved in the space race that has a better reputation? We're trusting space future to a nazi???

[EX500rider]

10. SpaceX has a excellent launch record

The Falcon 9 has an exceptional safety record, with 369 successful launches, two in-flight failures, one partial failure and one pre-flight destruction. It is the most-launched American rocket in history.

[AZ8theist]

12. Musk owns 42% equity and 79% voting control

It has been amazingly successful, far more than Boeing at this point.
As much as I hate the fascists guts, he is something of a visionary when it comes to spaceflight.
That being said, the government should force him to divest from Starlink, as those satelittes have been manipulated in Russias favor in the Ukraine invasion. He even admitted to such manipulation, I beleive. He's a national security risk.
But alas, he's filthy rich, so nothing will happen.

[slightlv]

18. That's where we differ...

I don't think he's a visionary. I think he find and borrows any visions he has, and then monetizes them via his father's inheritance. I don't trust he's thought anything through far enough to make it a success.

In truth, I'm old school, I guess. Private corporate money going into everything means cost cutting at the worst possible spots. I don't trust it. I've seen what it does to our DoD in real time. Our citizen workers for government... giving their all for everyone in the United States with diminishing returns, but dedicated to the goal of the Constitution and our Democracy. Show me where Elon has these goals as his foremost important issues, and maybe you can convince me otherwise.

[AZ8theist]

19. Trust me, I'm no fan of the Putin-loving DBag.....

But he has been successful with SpaceX.
My SIL worked there for awhile. Lousy pay, but interesting work.
At Tesla, I know people who worked there. Anti-union and treats workers like shit.

Oligarchs are ASSHOLES. Been that way for 10,000 years. He's just the most recent manifestation.
I think he long ago finished parlaying his daddys weath into successful businesses. But he certainly never abandoned his Fascist roots, that's for sure....

[slightlv]

20. At least we're agreed on that! (LOL) Love you, AZ!

[LudwigPastorius]

13. There are a lot of things that could go wrong with this.

Good luck to the astronauts.

[lefthandedskyhook]

14. If only Elon were not connected to x

Tesla was a good engineer. Elon is an economic opportunist. Go ahead and kill this thread. Monsters not site owners