A billionaire and an engineer have made history with the world’s first spacewalk conducted by private individuals. NASA has called this feat a ‘breakthrough’ for the commercial space industry.
Mr. Jared Isaacman – billionaire and founder of the electronic payment company Shift4, was the first to step into space at 6:52 AM on September 12.
“Beautiful,” he said to the control center in Hawthorne, California, as he took in the spectacular view of Earth below.
Mr. Jared Isaacman exiting the spacecraft to conduct the spacewalk mission. (Photo: AP).
He returned shortly after a few minutes, before SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, 30, stepped into space.
“The Polaris Dawn spacewalk has been completed, marking the first time private astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft!” SpaceX announced on social media platform X.
The spacewalk was the highlight of Polaris Dawn – a collaborative program between billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Mr. Isaacman.
“When we get home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth looks like a perfect world,” Mr. Isaacman remarked.
“Today’s success marks a breakthrough for the commercial space industry and NASA’s long-term goal of building a dynamic space economy for the United States,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on social media X.
Before the spacewalk began, the spacecraft’s cabin was fully depressurized, and the entire crew had to rely on the thin astronaut suits developed by SpaceX to connect with the spacecraft’s oxygen supply.
The spacewalk was expected to last only about 30 minutes, but preparation procedures took longer than anticipated, making the entire mission last approximately 2 hours.
This mission aimed to test the design of the new space suits as well as the spacecraft’s procedures and various other activities.
Mr. Isaacman, 41, Ms. Gillis, Mr. Scott Poteet, 50, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, 38, have been orbiting Earth on the Crew Dragon spacecraft since Polaris Dawn was launched in the early hours of September 10 from Florida.
Ms. Menon and Mr. Poteet remained inside the spacecraft while the other two conducted the spacewalk. Mr. Isaacman is the sponsor of the Polaris mission and also funded SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission in 2021.
He declined to disclose the amount paid for these missions, but estimates suggest it could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
Previously, only government-trained astronauts with years of training conducted spacewalks.
There have been approximately 270 spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS) since its establishment in 2000 and 16 spacewalks by Chinese astronauts on the Tiangong space station.
