BOCA CHICA, TX – FEBRUARY 11: The Crew of the next SpaceX private astronaut flight called Polaris Dawn, (Left to Right) Anna Menon, who works to develop astronaut operations for SpaceX, Sarah Gillis, lead space operations engineer, SpaceX, Scott Poteet, who served as the mission director of the Inspiration4 mission SpaceX, and Jared Isaacman, who is financing the mission, Pose at the Starbase Complex in Boca Chica. Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington
A New Hampshire native is set to rocket into space next week as part of SpaceX's first Polaris Dawn mission.
Lt. Col. Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a University of New Hampshire graduate, will be part of the milestone mission, which includes testing a generation spacesuit during the first commercial spacewalk, achieving the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program and testing a new laser-based satellite communication system.
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Poteet and three fellow astronauts are expected to launch from Florida in the early hours on Monday, Aug. 26. The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three flights billionaire and Shift4 founder Jared Isaacman purchased from SpaceX in 2022, according to CNBC. Isaacman will be commanding the mission, with longtime colleague Poteet joining him as the pilot and Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, two SpaceX empoyees, serving as medical officer and mission specialist.
“I’m so excited and I’m really looking forward to the journey,” Poteet said in a statement. “This is the pinnacle of my flying career and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to head into space.”
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Poteet is retired after spending two decades in the U.S. Air Force, where he patrolled the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, flew combat missions over Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq and even flew with the Thunderbirds.
He said he got hooked on flying while at UNH when he went on a refueling flight in a KC-135 tanker while a part of UNH's Air Force ROTC. He also participated in the school's outdoor education program and ran cross country.
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“I never dreamed of being an astronaut but through those programs we learned to push ourselves in various environments, learning to work as a team and trying different experiences,” Poteet said.
The four-member Polaris Dawn team is expected to be in space for five days.
