A four-person civilian crew on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission made history as the first non-government astronauts to perform a spacewalk on Thursday, September 12.
The crew for the five-day Polaris Dawn mission includes Jared Isaacman, a billionaire who was part of the first civilian astronaut team to orbit Earth in 2021, along with Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon.
As per CNN, before stepping outside the Dragon capsule, the crew underwent a “pre-breathe” process to remove nitrogen from their blood to avoid dangerous bubbles in the vacuum of space.
Isaacman was the first to exit the capsule just before 7 a.m. ET, using a mobility aid called “skywalker.”
He remarked, “From here, it looks like a perfect world.”
Polaris Dawn set a new record by reaching 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) from Earth, surpassing any crewed mission since Apollo.
Isaacman and Gillis were the only crew members to exit the spacecraft, spending a total of about 20 minutes outside.
Gillis spent approximately 10 minutes outside after Isaacman returned, testing her spacesuit’s flexibility.
The cabin offered stunning views of Earth, with the crew witnessing a sunrise and sunset approximately every 106 minutes.
During the spacewalk, the spacecraft was at an altitude between 190 and 700 kilometers above Earth.
Isaacman and Gillis exited the spacecraft around 6:48 a.m. EDT and 7:04 a.m. EDT, respectively.
The spacewalk, which began nearly four hours later than planned, lasted about one hour and 46 minutes, ending with the hatch closing at 7:14 a.m. EDT.
