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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Science
Colin Baker

SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk: Is the US breaking a 50-year-old space law?

SpaceX United States Earth Al Jazeera Alexei Leonov Ed White Elon Musk FAA NASA
A view of Earth and the Dragon capsule's Skywalker spacewalk platform shortly after the Polaris Dawn crew launched into an orbit on September 10, 2024 [SpaceX via AP Photo]

It’s a mission like no other. On Thursday morning, the SpaceX-operated Polaris Dawn will attempt something that’s never been done before: private civilians embarking on a spacewalk.

SpaceX’s newest adventure launched on Tuesday morning, sending four civilian astronauts on a five-day mission to a distance further from Earth than any crewed voyage since the Apollo programme in 1972.

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