The U.S. billionaire Jared Isaacman has made history by becoming the first civilian to conduct a spacewalk on a commercial mission.
Isaacman and three other team members traveled into the Earth’s orbit on board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft earlier this week.
A video, posted on X by SpaceX, shows Isaacman emerging from a door in the spacecraft while looking down to Earth on Thursday.
“Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said as he emerged.
After Isaacman returned to the spacecraft, SpaceX operations engineer Sarah Gillis emerged and conducted a series of mobility tests. She then climbed into the craft and closed the hatch.
Space X confirmed the mission was complete at 7:59 a.m. ET, writing on X: “The Polaris Dawn spacewalk is now complete, marking the first time commercial astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft!”
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn spacecraft taking off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this week. The U.S. Billionaire Jared Isaacman has become the first civilian to conduct a spacewalk on a commercial mission.
John Raoux/AP
Context
Isaacman and three other crew members—a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees—embarked on the five day Polaris Dawn mission early on Tuesday morning on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began at 5:23 a.m. ET.
The mission is being conducted to test new spacesuit designs, as well as complete the first ever commercial spacewalk. They are due to return to earth on Saturday, September 14.
“The SpaceX EVA suit, designed for extravehicular activities (EVAs, or spacewalks), is based on the familiar black-and-white intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit, but with enhancements and improvements in key areas to make it lightweight and unobtrusive, all while protecting astronauts in the unforgiving environment of outer space,” space journalist Andrew Jones explained for space.com.
Who Is Jared Isaacman?
Isaacman, 41, is an American entrepreneur and pilot. He is the founder of Draken International, a private air force provider as well as the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a payment processor used in retail and hospitality businesses across the U.S.
He has a net worth of approximately $1.9 billion, according to Forbes. He has declined to say how much he paid for this SpaceX mission.
According to The Associated Press, Isaacman said in 2021 when he purchased the space flight: “I truly want us to live in a world 50 or 100 years from now where people are jumping in their rockets like the Jetsons and there are families bouncing around on the moon with their kid in a spacesuit.”
He said at the time that he aims to use the private trip to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee. “I also think if we are going to live in that world, we better conquer childhood cancer along the way,” Isaacman said.
This is a breaking story. More to follow.
