Four tourists, including two women; SpaceX makes history with world's first all-civilian spaceflight

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is sending civilians to spacewalk for the first time in history, has been launched.

The mission of Polaris Dawn is the idea of a 41-year-old billionaire named Jared Isaacman. Apart from Isaacman, the passengers include former US pilot Scott Poteet (50), SpaceX crew members and engineers Sarah Gillis (30) and Anna Menon(38). Anna Menon is the wife of Anil Menon, who is of Indian-Ukrainian descent.

The spacecraft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's a five-day mission. The spacewalk will happen on the third day of the mission.

Characteristics

• The first spacewalk by civilians
• The first mission to the Van Allen radiation belt full of solar wind particles
• The largest orbit that the Crew Dragon is reaching (700 - 1400 km)
• Surpassing the 1373-km milestone set by NASA's Gemini 11 spacecraft in 1966
• The longest distance reached by women in space

Spacewalk

• In an orbit of 700 km
• Gillis and Isaacman will come out separately
• The two will stay out for 20 minutes each.

Studies

• How space radiation can affect the body
• The laser communication system of Starlink, SpaceX's internet satellite network, will be tested
• 30 scientific experiments

New spacesuit

• Resistant to extreme heat
• 3D printed helmet
• Visor that resists fine meteorites
• Oxygen and temperature can be observed in the visor
• Heat-resistant boots.