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The Polaris Dawn astronauts showed the Earth from an altitude of 1400 km: it is more spectacular than 50 years ago. Video

Inna VasilyukNews
The beauty of the Earth from the height of the Dragon spacecraft. Source: x.com/SpaceX

The astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission, who have been in space since yesterday (September 10), have sent photos from their vantage point. SpaceX also shared the first video where you can see the Earth from an altitude of more than 1400 km, filmed by the Dragon Resilience spacecraft's camera.

In a post on the X network, SpaceX noted that this is "the greatest distance humans have traveled since the Apollo program more than 50 years ago." Yes, and the out-of-this-world video is a great proof of the unprecedented space beauty.

First, SpaceX published a photo of Earth and the Dragon capsule shortly after the mission crew entered the 190 x 1,216 km orbit, SpaceX said in a post.

Later, a video was released that allows you to see the view of our planet in all its glory, not from a bird's eye view, but from the height of the record-breaking Polaris Dawn space flight. The amateur astronauts have climbed into an elliptical orbit with an apogee height of 1400.7 kilometers. This mission surpassed the previous record of 1373 kilometers for a spacecraft with a crew in Earth orbit, achieved by NASA's Gemini 11 in 1966.

The Polaris Dawn astronauts showed the Earth from an altitude of 1400 km: it is more spectacular than 50 years ago. Video

The Polaris Dawn crew consists of four people, including the mission commander, billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who is sponsoring the flight, pilot Scott Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

The first day of the flight

After adapting to space altitude and performing certain breathing exercises, about two hours after takeoff, the crew had their first meal in space, Mashable reports. They also conducted the first experiment involving Starlink for about 3.5 hours. In total, the astronauts will conduct about 40 scientific experiments during the five-day space journey.

The Polaris Dawn astronauts showed the Earth from an altitude of 1400 km: it is more spectacular than 50 years ago. Video

According to experts, on the first day, Polaris Dawn astronauts were also exposed to high doses of radiation when Dragon passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). In this region, the Earth's magnetic field is weaker, and more high-energy particles can penetrate the Earth.

Now the crew is preparing for a historic spacewalk, which will be the first-ever commercial mission. Isaacman and Gillis will launch from Dragon into space on September 12. Interestingly, all four astronauts will experience the effects of the space vacuum, as the Dragon spacecraft has no airlock.

The Polaris Dawn astronauts showed the Earth from an altitude of 1400 km: it is more spectacular than 50 years ago. Video

According to SpaceX, the company has developed new Polaris Dawn spacesuits for astronauts. The collected data on their performance will pave the way for new spacesuit technologies to support future missions to the Moon and Mars.

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