The launch of the historic Polaris Dawn mission, which will carry out the first-ever private spacewalk from the SpaceX Crew Dragon, has been postponed for another day. This time, the reason for the postponement of the launch was a helium leak, which was discovered in one of the hoses on the launch pad.
Image source: SpaceX
«Teams are closely examining the helium leak,” SpaceX said in a statement. It also states that the leak occurred on the side of the launch pad complex. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Crew Dragon remain ready for flight, while the crew continues to wait for the mission to begin.
The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the Polaris Dawn mission will take place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The next mission launch window will open on August 28 at 03:38 local time (10:38 Moscow time). Two more windows are reserved for the same day – at 05:23 local time (12:23 Moscow time) and at 07:09 local time (14:09 Moscow time). You can watch the launch online on the SpaceX website.
As for the helium leak, it occurred in one of the quick-release hoses, which is the interface connecting the Falcon 9 carrier to the launch tower. Helium is not a rocket fuel; it runs on a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen. Helium is used to create pressure in the fuel line.
The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three planned under the Polaris program, the human spaceflight project organized and funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. As part of the current mission, he and another flight participant are scheduled to perform a spacewalk on the third day of the mission, which will be the first such event in history carried out as part of a commercial mission. In addition, Crew Dragon will be 1,400 km away from Earth during the Polaris Dawn mission, the furthest for a manned mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.