AIAA Statement on SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission Written 13 September 2024

September 13, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate the SpaceX team and the Polaris Dawn crew on their accomplishments. The Polaris Dawn mission represents a huge step forward in building our sustainable off-world future.

“This mission is delivering numerous aerospace engineering advances. From modifying the Dragon spacecraft to perform the extravehicular activity (EVA), to developing unique mission procedures, and designing the new spacesuits to protect the crew, they are taking the types of steps needed to accelerate the commercial space ecosystem. They also are enabling new communications methods between space and Earth using the Starlink satellite constellation. 

“We congratulate Polaris Dawn crew members, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, on their breathtaking EVA experience in space. Their spacewalk is an historic first! The AIAA community was thrilled to hear from Jared after his first spaceflight, during our 2021 ASCEND event in Las Vegas. We appreciate his personal leadership and enthusiasm in the aerospace community.

“We salute AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX and the entire team involved in the Polaris Dawn mission. They are helping shape the future of aerospace.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, RebeccaG@AIAA.org, 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. Visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Video

SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn spacewalk
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)