Billionaire Jared Isaacman Will Return To Explore Space With Myriad Missions

Jared Isaacman et al., will return to explore outer space. (photo: Polaris Program / John Kraus)

JAKARTA - Jared Isaacman will return to space on three flights with SpaceX. The billionaire this time will plan to reach a higher orbit than his first flight.

This private mission will fly from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Isaacman, as mission commander, will join longtime partner Scott Poteet as a pilot. Two SpaceX employees, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, the company's lead aerospace operations (medical) engineer, complete the crew. Gillis oversees the astronaut training program and Menon manages the development of his crew's operations.

The first mission in the so-called Polaris Program is set to launch a four-man crew led by Isaacman in the fourth quarter aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

According to the program's website, the maiden flight, Polaris Dawn, will be the first of three missions, with the latter being the first crewed space flight of a SpaceX Starship rocket.

"The Polaris program is an important step in advancing human space exploration while helping solve problems through the use of innovative technology on Earth," Isaacman said in a statement.

The Polaris Dawn mission will spend up to five days in orbit. It is thought to travel to the Van Allen radiation belt, which has an inner band that extends from about 400 to 6,000 miles above Earth, in part to aid crew research on how radiation in space affects the human body.

Radiation remains a serious concern for space flights to the Moon and Mars, as SpaceX says, because they will require prolonged radiation exposure, which can lead to an increased risk of cancer and degenerative diseases and other long-term effects.

Isaacman was lucky this time, he was the first planned to try out the new technology. The technology includes a work-in-progress spacewalking suit, then the first flights with new people from Starship, destined for trips to the Moon and Mars, testing Starlink satellite communications in space and conducting scientific research on human health.