Polaris Dawn raised millions for St. Jude
As the Polaris Dawn crew prepares for their private launch into space on August 26 with SpaceX, mission fundraising is in full swing for its chosen nonprofit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which studies and treats cancer in children.
Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman said his first spaceflight, 2021’s Inspiration4, “raised over $250 million for them. We’ve raised millions since Polaris Dawn came on board, and will continue to do so throughout of the Polaris program.”
Along with the efforts of Isaacman and the Polaris Dawn crew, the mission found partners to help raise more funds for St. Jude.
Doritos has created a new Zero Gravity Cool Ranch chip designed for safe weightless snacking and is offering the chips and space-flown tins as prizes as part of its fundraising project, which you can see at https://doritos.experience.stjude.org/. To date, the project has raised more than $538,000 and is close to its goal of $585,000.
Meanwhile, luxury watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen donated a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Polaris Dawn” watch, which will be worn on the flight and auctioned off to benefit St. Jude after the flight.
Mission expert Anna Menon has also written a children’s book, called “Kisses from Space,” which she will read during the flight, with proceeds from the book’s sales going to St. Jude.
Polaris Dawn crew 1 week from launch
The four private astronauts of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission are one week from launch after two years of training for a mission that, they hope, will include the world’s first private spacewalk.
American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who previously backed his private Inspiration4 spaceflight with SpaceX, will command the Polaris Dawn mission, the first of three new spaceflights he has purchased from SpaceX.
Isaacman, pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both Lead Space Operations Engineers at SpaceX, arrived at their launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 19. Liftoff is set for August 26 at 3:38 am EDT (0738 GMT).
The mission, announced in 2022, will test new spacesuits for SpaceX on a planned 2-hour spacewalk during the five-day mission. On August 19, the crew spoke to reporters about their upcoming mission.
Read all about it in our wrap story on hime from Space.com’s Josh Dinner.
Doritos heads into space with Polaris Dawn
Polaris Dawn will have some new space snacks when they launch aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience on August 26.
Doritos is flying a new type of safe-for-space Zero Gravity Cool Ranch Doritos chips during a private spaceflight. The limited-edition flavor is available for sale online and contains an oil-based coating to keep Doritos’ classic powdered topping floating in the air.
“The limitless possibilities of the space inspired us to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Chris Bellinger, chief creative officer of PepsiCo Foods North America, in a statement. “This mission is a testament to our commitment to delivering bold experiences and flavors, even in unexpected places.”
You can read more about the new space Doritos in our full story by Robert Pearlman of collectSPACE.com.
#SpaceX #Polaris #Dawn #private #spacewalk #mission #Live #updates