Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis made history on Thursday, performing the world’s first commercial space walk.
The pair left the Crew Dragon craft in turn, with Isaacman going first. While outside of the Dragon, they conducted a number of motions to test out the mobility of the space suits.
“Back at home we have a lot of work to do but from here, it looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said shortly before 7 am New York time, as he emerged out of the nose of the vehicle and looked down at the Earth below him.
The Polaris Dawn mission also made history on Tuesday when the SpaceX Dragon capsule reached a peak altitude of 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) above Earth, sending the crew farther than any humans have travelled since the Apollo programme sent astronauts to the moon. Before the spacewalk, the capsule lowered its altitude to between 195 and 737 kilometres (121 and 458 miles).
The spacewalk served as the main event for the ongoing mission in Earth orbit. Launched early Tuesday morning, the flight’s primary goal is to test SpaceX’s newly designed spacesuits in the vacuum of space.
Before now, spacewalking was an exclusive government job, performed by astronauts from government agencies or nation-states, but Isaacman and Gillis are private astronauts. Isaacman provided development funding for the mission but has declined to say how much he contributed.
Polaris Dawn consists of a four-person crew, including Isaacman and Gillis, as well as Anna Menon, another lead SpaceX engineer, and Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Isaacman’s close friend and a former US Air Force pilot.
During the spacewalk, Menon and Poteet were to remain inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft. However, all four wore SpaceX’s suits throughout the manoeuvre, as the spacecraft’s hatch remained open, exposing the full interior to the vacuum of space.
Also Read: SpaceX's Polaris Dawn reaches farthest from Earth since Apollo 11
The pair left the Crew Dragon craft in turn, with Isaacman going first. While outside of the Dragon, they conducted a number of motions to test out the mobility of the space suits.
“Back at home we have a lot of work to do but from here, it looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said shortly before 7 am New York time, as he emerged out of the nose of the vehicle and looked down at the Earth below him.
The Polaris Dawn mission also made history on Tuesday when the SpaceX Dragon capsule reached a peak altitude of 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) above Earth, sending the crew farther than any humans have travelled since the Apollo programme sent astronauts to the moon. Before the spacewalk, the capsule lowered its altitude to between 195 and 737 kilometres (121 and 458 miles).
Polaris Dawn and Dragon at 1,400 km above Earth – the farthest humans have traveled since the Apollo program over 50 years ago pic.twitter.com/rRDeD1dY1e
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 11, 2024
The spacewalk served as the main event for the ongoing mission in Earth orbit. Launched early Tuesday morning, the flight’s primary goal is to test SpaceX’s newly designed spacesuits in the vacuum of space.
Before now, spacewalking was an exclusive government job, performed by astronauts from government agencies or nation-states, but Isaacman and Gillis are private astronauts. Isaacman provided development funding for the mission but has declined to say how much he contributed.
Polaris Dawn consists of a four-person crew, including Isaacman and Gillis, as well as Anna Menon, another lead SpaceX engineer, and Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Isaacman’s close friend and a former US Air Force pilot.
During the spacewalk, Menon and Poteet were to remain inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft. However, all four wore SpaceX’s suits throughout the manoeuvre, as the spacecraft’s hatch remained open, exposing the full interior to the vacuum of space.
Also Read: SpaceX's Polaris Dawn reaches farthest from Earth since Apollo 11
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