A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens will have to wait to launch into space after a helium leak forced a launch delay until later this week at the earliest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott \u201cKidd\u201d Poteet and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon were scheduled to launch into space on a mission that was to include the first spacewalk carried out by a civilian crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, had been scheduled to lift off early Tuesday from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, SpaceX announced on X<\/a> that a helium leak delayed the launch until Wednesday at the earliest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical,” the company wrote. “Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The helium leak was a setback for SpaceX, which has been ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station since 2020. SpaceX carried its first private citizens into orbit in 2021 on a flight that Isaacman also funded and took part in to raise money for St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mission\u2019s featured spacewalk is scheduled to occur on the third day. Two crew members are expected to exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a tether, but because the spacecraft does not have a pressurized airlock, all four astronauts will don newly designed spacesuits and the entire capsule will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies have ventured into the vacuum of space to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and conduct scientific experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n