SpaceX Polaris program: Who are the four crew members going for the highest Earth orbit?

Apart from making a record of the most launches this year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has another mammoth mission in its hand now. The company will conduct three human spaceflights under the Polaris program which are scheduled to begin from the fourth quarter of 2022. Touted as a program to “advance human spaceflight capabilities”, Polaris will begin with Polaris Dawn, one of the three planned missions. Let us take a look at the astronauts selected for the mission.

Jared Isaacman

(Image: Polaris Program)

Billionaire founder of the payments company Shift4 Jared Isaacman will serve as the commander of the Polaris Dawn mission. A pilot and astronaut with over 7,000 hours of aviation experience, Isaacman was also the commander of SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission, which was the first all-civilian spaceflight and raised $240 million for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The philanthropist also has multiple world records in his portfolio including two speed-around-the-world flights in 2008 and 2009 to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation along with participation in over 100 airshows for charity. Moreover, he also co-founded Draken International, the world's largest private airforce, to train pilots for the United States Armed Forces in 2011.

Scott Poteet

(Image: Polaris Program)

A retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Poteet has been chosen as the mission pilot for Polaris Dawn. Poteet has over 3,200 flying hours in a number of fighter jets and has logged over 400 hours of combat time during different operations. The former US air force pilot is also a close associate of Isaacman and has served as the Director of Business Development at Draken International and VP of Strategy at Shift4.

He had also contributed to the Inspiration4 mission wherein he served as the Mission Director in order to raise money for cancer-affected children. Poteet has also competed in 15 Ironman triathlons since 2000 and has four Ironman World Championships under his belt. 

Sarah Gillis

(Image: Polaris Program)

Currently a SpaceX employee, Gillis has been assigned the role of mission specialist and is also overseeing the company's astronaut training program. She is credited to prepare NASA astronauts for the first Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions as well as those of the Inspiration4 mission in 2021.

An experienced mission control operator, the Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX has served as a crew communicator for Dragon’s cargo resupply missions to and from the International Space Station as a navigation officer for human spaceflight missions.

Anna Menon

(Image: Polaris Program)

Anna Menon will also serve as the mission specialist and a medical officer during the Polaris Dawn flight. Menon is also a SpaceX employee and works as a Lead Space Operations Engineer and manages the development of crew operations and serves in mission control as both a Mission Director and crew communicator. Menon has contributed to multiple Dragon missions, such as Demo-2, Crew-1, CRS-22, and CRS-23.

Besides, she has also helped in the creation of the crew communicator operator role, implementation of Dragon’s crew capabilities and development of critical operational responses to vehicle emergencies. She has also served as a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station during her seven-year-long association with NASA.