Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of Shift4 Payments, is once again setting his sights on the stars. On Wednesday, the 41-year-old entrepreneur will make his second venture into space in three years. As part of the Polaris Dawn mission, backed by SpaceX and Elon Musk, Isaacman will lead a four-person crew on a daring voyage further from Earth than any space tourist has ever gone before.

A Historic Mission Beyond Earth

The Polaris Dawn mission is set to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a mission to reach the highest orbit around Earth for a crewed mission. Accompanying Isaacman are SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, marking their debut as the first company employees to join an orbital flight. Once in orbit, the team is expected to reach an altitude of up to 1,400 kilometres, surpassing the distance of any prior commercial spaceflight. The mission will also see Isaacman become the first private citizen to undertake a "spacewalk," stepping outside the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to experience the extreme environment of space.

Meet the Crew: Engineers and Trailblazers

Joining Isaacman on this ambitious expedition are two pioneering women from SpaceX, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Both will not only be part of this groundbreaking journey but also become the first women from the company to make such a trip. The mission involves a five-day journey in an elliptical orbit, with plans to push the boundaries of human exploration and technology.

Isaacman, a seasoned pilot and adventurer, is no stranger to daring feats. Having taken up aviation as a hobby, he learned to fly fighter jets and circumnavigated the globe in just over 61 hours. He also co-founded Draken International, the world’s largest private fleet of military jets, which trains Air Force pilots. After selling a majority stake in Draken in 2019, Isaacman became a billionaire when he took Shift4 Payments public in 2020. Now, he is preparing for his second mission into space, following his 2021 Inspiration4 mission, which was also backed by SpaceX.

Scientific Ambitions and Unprecedented Challenges

The Polaris Dawn mission is not just about breaking records; it also aims to advance scientific knowledge and space technology. During their journey, the crew will conduct research on radiation exposure, gathering valuable data that could aid future missions to the Moon and Mars. One of the mission’s key experiments will test whether radiation in space can produce X-ray images without the use of a traditional X-ray machine, as the team passes through Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts.

On the third day, Isaacman and Gillis are set to perform a historic "spacewalk" by opening the Crew Dragon capsule's hatch while tethered to the spacecraft. This will expose them briefly to the unforgiving conditions of outer space, with each spending approximately 15 minutes outside to test their spacesuits.

Preparing for Launch: Challenges and Delays

The mission was initially scheduled for an earlier launch but faced a 24-hour delay due to a helium leak detected on a ground-side piece of equipment. SpaceX announced the delay via social media, highlighting the need to carefully examine the issue before proceeding with the launch. The crew is now set to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the launch window between 3:38 and 7:09 am ET.

With the Polaris Dawn mission, Jared Isaacman and his crew are not only setting out to achieve new heights in space tourism but are also contributing to the future of space exploration. As they prepare to break new ground, their journey will be watched closely by space enthusiasts and scientists alike, eager to see what this bold mission will uncover.