Watch: SpaceX launch civilian crew on first private spacewalk mission into Earth’s radiation belts

internal power dragons on internal power first stage propellant tanks are loaded next major event approximately tus 2 minutes the liquid oxygen load completes on the second stage after that at about T minus 1 minute and 30 seconds or so we will tell the crew to expect loud vending as we depressurize and drain the lines up the side of the strong back and then as we get down inside the last minute 45 and then 1 minute we'll get dragon into countdown Falcon 9 computers will go to start up waiting for the call out now for liquid o stage two locks load is complete and there we go locks loading complete on Second Stage all major propellant activities are complete dragon dragon is an auto Idol dragon's gone to auto Idol one of the States and its flight computer we'll begin venting down the lines close out are starting expect l v there we go so the plum you see coming off of the strong back here that's normal as we come up on T minus one minute we'll hear dragon computers in the countdown falcon9 computers in the countdown flight termination system armed and then we'll hear the it goes so let's listen in to the last 66 seconds of the countdown FTS is arm Falcon 9 is in start up and is now dragon [Applause] is Dragon SpaceX go for launch [Applause] send us St x t minus 30 seconds T minus 15 te minus 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and copy one alpha vehicle pitching down range stage one propulsion is nominal [Applause] [Music] t+ 35 seconds into the polaron mission flying crew on board dragon and Falcon 9 to new heights power and Telemetry nominal and we're throttling down in preparation for Max Q next call out be the vehicle Supersonic and there on the left side gotpic thumbs up from the pilot on the left side there Max Q we're throttle back up to power one Bravo and we heard the call out one Bravo cop one Bravo that just tells the crew what would happen uh should they need to initiate anything but right now everybody making nominal call outs on Falcon 9 nice views from the ground camera and nice view from inside dragon and back chill is underway an announcement lets us know we've begun the final chill Hill of the second stage engine in preparation for its activity coming up at about t plus 2 minutes and 40 seconds 2 minutes into flight everything continues to look good we'll have in half a minute three major activities shut down of the nine Merlin 1D engines stage separation thrott down and then ignition of the second stage engine Throttle Down we're holding a constant acceleration now for the crew just below 4 G see we're coming up 70 kilom preparing for Mo main engine cut off two alpha stage separation confirmed C two alpha recognition as you can tell by the cheers behind us and the views on your screen the first stage booster now on its way to attempt landing on just read the instructions second stage there on the right hand side of your screen you can see that the first stage has not yet reached its apogee you can see the altitude there lots of thumbs up there excuse me from Pilot Scott kid potit now three and a half minutes into the polaron mission first stage continuing to make its way up up to its apy we'll see that altitude begin to slow down Dragon SpaceX trajectory nominal great news there indicating Dragon copy that the second stage trajectory is looking good now the grid fins have deployed on the first stage if we get first stage views we might be able to see the Florida coast in the background oh there right there yeah we sure can once again the AR drone ship is attempting to land on uh excuse me our booster is attempting to land on our drone ship just read the instructions now the next event coming up will be the entry burn taking place around t + 7 and 1/2 minutes this burn will utilize three of the engines on the first stage that helps to slow the booster down as it re-enters the Earth atmosphere Dragon SpaceX trajectory nominal Dragon copies following the entry burn we will see the landing burn and that'll be around t+ 9 minutes that one will be just a single engine burn and that will bring the booster down for a sof landing on our drone ship around the same time as that we expect to see Dragon um be we expect to see Dragon be injected into orbit everything continuing to look good for second stage there on the right hand side of your screen beautiful glow with that mvac engine nozzle we can see the crew settling trajectory nominal cop crew seems pretty comfortable there at t plus 6 minutes they're at about Four G's and everything looks good first stage continuing its descent back down to planet Earth we can see the crew remain with their visors down in the locked position that'll remain that way until they are in orbit everything continuing to look great with the second stage uh engine burn there as well as the Dragon SpaceX trajectory nominal Dragon we're about 30 seconds away from the first stage entry burn this is the first of two Burns that the first stage will perform designed to help reduce the amount of drag experienced by the first stage stage two FTS has saved all right standing by for entry burn begin on the first stage there on the left hand side of your screen and right on time you can see on your left hand screen that the entry burn has begun there's three engines lit on that first stage vehicle and this is about a 29 second burn and helps slow the vehicle down as it's re-entering the Earth's atmosphere there you can see that the engines have now shut down on that first stage that concludes the entry burn and the cool part about this uh with the stage one vehicle returning back to Earth is we get to full utilize the atmosphere the atmosphere actually stage two is in termal Guidance the atmosphere actually scrubs about 70% of the Velocity uh on the vehicle so we use that entry burn to help slow the vehicle down then we utilize the atmosphere uh and the drag from the atmosphere to slow the vehicle down and then we do have one single burn for the landing burn copy Shannon and next up will be SEO one and that is second stage engine cut off one and that'll be on the second stage that mvac engine on your right hand screen will shut down and allow the vehicle with dragon attached to coast and shut down and there's that shut down and the landing burn on the first stage should be starting up here momentarily and there it is landing burn has begun for Dragon SpaceX orbit insertion Dragon SpaceX launch Escape system disarmed Cy at SpaceX and we show the scene and a lot of events happening right there but you can see that the stage one vehicle has touchdown on just read the instructions a very excited crowd there here in Hawthorne we've also confirmed enac engine shutdown and orbital insertion of the second stage with the crew on board yeah honestly a pretty impressive crowd uh for 230 in the morning here we can see the crew enjoying their first taste of micro gravity there on the left hand side of your screen [Applause] now that the mvac engine has shut down uh they are able to uh just kind of float free we might catch a glimpse of the zerog indicator I'm not can't quite tell if they've oh it looks like it's in the uh upper right hand corner it'll uh come back into view here once again they will keep their visors on until given the okay by uh core here on the ground at this point in time the dragon and the dragon trunk remain attached to the second stage second stage is basically safing itself um in preparation for uh the separation from the dragon trunk of course the trunk will remain attached to the dragon caps all the way up until the point in which we begin re-entry operations the trunk is what will help provide power to the Dragon capsule while it is on orbit using its solar arrays looks like our first clear view of planet Earth there our first of many for this Mission and then next event coming up will be um the separation of the dragon from the second stage I believe this view here is yep it's of the trunk we can see it separating from the second stage a gorgeous view we can see that Polaris doation confirmed [Applause] Polaris Dawn flying free into the sunrise we're now at t plus 13 minutes and 5 Seconds into the mission next major event will be nose cone deploy Dragon SpaceX today you embark on a journey not just for yourselves but for all Humanity each of you has trained tiously and prepared rigorously for this moment the moment where we reach higher in the space than ever before as you gaze towards the North Star remember that your courage lights the path for future explorers We Trust in your skills your bravery and your teamwork to carry out the mission that lies ahead know that the entire team back here is with you every step watching supporting and cheering you on as you walk into space we are sending you hugs from the ground God speed play St crew may you make history and come home safely now words from our CE Dragon CE welcome to orbit the Falcon team is honored to have helped you start your incredible journey we hope you enjoyed the ride the whole SpaceX family is looking up to you God speed and good luck LD CE uh message received we appreciate the kind words we wouldn't be on this journey without all 14,000 of you back at uh at SpaceX and everyone else cheering us on we appreciate it and we're going to get to work now some really nice words there from our tonight's launch director Frank massina who fun fact was also the launch director on inspiration 4 as well as uh chief engineer for this Mission Jared met really nice nice to see some endearing or hear some endearing words up to the crew well and with that the Polaris Dawn crew they're now in orbit t+ 15 minutes and they are scheduled to spend up to the next 5 days in space we heard that tone for a minute we thought we might hear from the crew but they're going to spend the next 5 days in space before splashing down off the coast of Florida the Polaris Dawn crew is the the Polaris Dawn mission is the first mission in the Polaris program that will demonstrate new technologies conduct extensive research and ultimately culminate in a flight of spacex's Starship with humans on board all of this while continuing to raise funds and awareness for important causes here on Earth you can learn more about the Polaris Dawn program and the Polaris program at pois program.com this Mission will fly higher than any dragon mission to date attempt in to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown for a crude spacecraft breaking the record set by gmany 11 half a century ago and there it looks like we can see uh some nose cone separation action happening now the polaron crew will also be the first to test the starlink laser-based communications in Space over the course of the mission we'll be checking in periodically with the crew next up dragon will initiate a two-day pre-breathe process to prepare the crew for their upcoming spacewalk and that'll be this Thursday September 12th Dragon SpaceX nominal dehumidifier activation and service section Draco checkouts and no cone open is in progress temp SpaceX we are tracking and again that's Thursday September 12th for that spacewalk so please be sure to tune in for our live coverage of this historic Milestone and of course we will also be back to bring you live coverage of Splashdown when the crew returns back to Earth you can stay on top of any potential live events from the crew by following us on X at SpaceX and keep tabs on the mission with the dragon tracker at spacex.com with that it's been a great early morning thanks for being with us thanks for watching and we'll see you back here soon