The first human launch into space was conducted in 1961 with astronaut Yuri Gagarin. Eight years later, NASA set out on a mission to further space exploration by placing the first man on the moon with the spacecraft Apollo 11 and astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. Since then, scientists and explorers have deepened our understanding of the universe by traveling thousands of miles from Earth’s atmosphere and collecting data. However, many of these explorations have put astronauts in an exorbitant amount of danger.
On September 10, 2024, SpaceX and NASA launched the Polaris Dawn mission with an all-civilian crew, costing $55 million and lasting five days. Before takeoff, workers found a helium leak. The incident delayed the launch but still put the crew in danger. Even though SpaceX knew the risks, they continued with the Polaris Dawn launch. SpaceX has stated this was the riskiest mission due to the spacecraft traveling through a radiation belt to reach a higher orbit. Radiation belts are not only harmful to the rockets but can cause bodily harm to the crew members. Both companies continued this mission in an attempt to travel further than Apollo 11, essentially testing the human limits in space and the effects of spaceflight, the first all-civilian spacewalk, and testing the first Starlink laser-based communications. SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, retired United States Air Force pilot Scott Poteet, and billionaire and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman were the four crew members for the exploration.
Once humans are exposed to the vacuum of space without proper gear, they will immediately begin to suffocate. The air in their lungs would be forcefully expelled, while the liquids in their body would boil away. Consciousness would remain for a few seconds, then death in a matter of minutes. To prevent this, SpaceX designed a new space suit that was extensively tested before the mission. Elon Musk intends to use these new suits when he builds a “city-state” on Mars, stating that the new “free country” will not have the same laws as Earth and a base on the moon. By 2026, Musk plans to send uncrewed ships to Mars to collect data, so that by 2028-2030 humans can reach Mars. NASA however does not support this decision. According to them, even a manned mission to Mars in 2040 would be a long shot.
