A tech billionaire has completed the first commercial spacewalk, exiting a SpaceX capsule dressed in the rocket company’s new spacesuit – a historic step towards the commercialization of space travel and another milestone for Elon Musk’s company.
Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4, exited the Crew Dragon capsule Thursday morning and spent ten minutes viewing the vast expanse of outer space and testing the capabilities of his SpaceX suit.
“Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world” Isaacman said, taking in the stunning 870 mile view of Earth from outer space. He became the first non-astronaut to conduct a spacewalk after bankrolling the mission.
Watch Dragon’s first spacewalk with the @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn crew https://t.co/svdJRkGN7K
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024
SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, another member of the Polaris Dawn mission, stepped outside the capsule after Isaacman’s venture and completed the same mobility tests in her spacesuit. Two other crew members, former fighter pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon stayed inside the Crew Dragon capsule.
“Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!” NASA commissioner Bill Nelson said on X, quoting SpaceX’s livestream of the spacewalk.
“Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA‘s long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy.”
SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew have completed the first commercial spacewalk!
“SpaceX, back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” — Mission Commander @rookisaacman during Dragon egress and seeing our planet from ~738 km pic.twitter.com/lRczSv5i4k
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
NASA has supported the private sector’s effort to open up space to tourism and lower operations costs for future space missions. Musk, founder of SpaceX and space industry pioneer, took time off from his political musings to live tweet the mission and congratulate the crew when they finished the historic expedition.
SpaceX unexpectedly delayed the mission for a few hours, eventually determining that its systems were ready to go. Safety procedures before and after the spacewalk brought the total mission time to about two hours.
The crew had two lines of oxygen flowing into their spacesuits and depressurized the capsule before Isaacman and Gillis took turns in space. After Gillis’s journey, they made sure the hatch was secure and closed to protect the capsule from the vacuum of outer space. Once Gillis re-entered the capsule, the Polaris Dawn members re-pressured Crew Dragon and completed the mission.
Isaacman and Gillis conducted three mobility tests to evaluate “hand body control, vertical movement with Skywalker, and foot restraint,” SpaceX said on X.
The Polaris Dawn space venture already took its crew members the furthest distance away from Earth since the Apollo moon missions over a half century ago. The flight will last a couple more days and crew members will conduct other experiments to finish off their journey.