The first commercial spaceflight mission carrying billionaire Jared Isaacman lifted off Tuesday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Along with Isaacman, the mission launched pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and medical officer Anna Menon.
"The Polaris Dawn spacewalk is now complete, marking the first time commercial astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft," SpaceX said in a post on social media platform X.
"Today's spacewalk is the first extravehicular activity (EVA) to use commercially developed hardware and procedures and the new SpaceX EVA suit," the company added.
The crew began putting on the suits after a lengthy pre-breathing procedure that lasted 48 hours. After confirming the leak check, the hatch of the Dragon spacecraft was opened.
The opening of the Dragon hatch marked "the first time four humans have been simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space," SpaceX said.
Mission Commander Isaacman and Mission Specialist Gillis took turns exiting Dragon to test the mobility of SpaceX's EVA spacesuit, which was powered on with full oxygen flow.
During the spacewalk, Dragon repositioned itself so that its trunk faced the Sun to regulate temperatures and communications during the spacewalk.
Once Isaacman exited the Dragon, he used SpaceX's Skywalker mobility platform to secure himself as he floated in the vacuum of space.
The astronauts were tethered to a 12-foot tether, which provided them with a constant flow of oxygen, communication lines, and a safety link that secured them to the spacecraft while they performed EVA operations.
SpaceX said Isaacman underwent "the first of three tests of suit mobility, vertical movement with Skywalker, and foot restraint."
Gillis moved to wait her turn to exit the spacecraft after Isaacman returned safely inside, SpaceX said.
She "performed the same series of suit mobility tests that Isaacman completed," SpaceX said.
The entire procedure, from cabin decompression to repressurization, took about two hours.
The free flight mission flew at “a very high altitude that humans have not reached in more than 50 years.” Only the Apollo mission reached higher.
On the first day of the mission, Dragon reached the highest orbital altitude of the flight, a distance of about 1,400.7 kilometers.
The distance is the farthest from Earth that humans have flown since NASA's Apollo 17 moon landing mission in 1972, and the highest Earth orbit made by a manned spacecraft since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
Along with Isaacman, the mission launched pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and medical officer Anna Menon.
"The Polaris Dawn spacewalk is now complete, marking the first time commercial astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft," SpaceX said in a post on social media platform X.
"Today's spacewalk is the first extravehicular activity (EVA) to use commercially developed hardware and procedures and the new SpaceX EVA suit," the company added.
The crew began putting on the suits after a lengthy pre-breathing procedure that lasted 48 hours. After confirming the leak check, the hatch of the Dragon spacecraft was opened.
The opening of the Dragon hatch marked "the first time four humans have been simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space," SpaceX said.
Mission Commander Isaacman and Mission Specialist Gillis took turns exiting Dragon to test the mobility of SpaceX's EVA spacesuit, which was powered on with full oxygen flow.
During the spacewalk, Dragon repositioned itself so that its trunk faced the Sun to regulate temperatures and communications during the spacewalk.
Once Isaacman exited the Dragon, he used SpaceX's Skywalker mobility platform to secure himself as he floated in the vacuum of space.
The astronauts were tethered to a 12-foot tether, which provided them with a constant flow of oxygen, communication lines, and a safety link that secured them to the spacecraft while they performed EVA operations.
SpaceX said Isaacman underwent "the first of three tests of suit mobility, vertical movement with Skywalker, and foot restraint."
Gillis moved to wait her turn to exit the spacecraft after Isaacman returned safely inside, SpaceX said.
She "performed the same series of suit mobility tests that Isaacman completed," SpaceX said.
The entire procedure, from cabin decompression to repressurization, took about two hours.
The free flight mission flew at “a very high altitude that humans have not reached in more than 50 years.” Only the Apollo mission reached higher.
On the first day of the mission, Dragon reached the highest orbital altitude of the flight, a distance of about 1,400.7 kilometers.
The distance is the farthest from Earth that humans have flown since NASA's Apollo 17 moon landing mission in 1972, and the highest Earth orbit made by a manned spacecraft since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
