Two astronauts from a SpaceX capsule in Earth’s orbit completed the world’s first commercial spacewalk on Thursday. Billionaire Jared Isaacman, aged 41, was the first to exit, with 30-year-old SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis following, marking them as the first civilians to undertake a spacewalk.
The entire event was broadcast live on the company’s website.
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
According to SpaceX, on Thursday, September 12 at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew completed the first-ever spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 738 km above the Earth’s surface.
The crew began preparations for the spacewalk shortly after liftoff, through a two-day pre-breathe process designed to prevent decompression sickness by slowly acclimatizing the crew to lower pressures while slowly increasing oxygen levels within the spacecraft’s cabin. Once complete, the crew began preparations for the spacewalk, which included donning their EVA suits, completing suit leak checks, and venting Dragon down to vacuum.
After opening the hatch, the Polaris Dawn crew became the first four astronauts to be exposed to the vacuum of space at the same time. Over the next approximate 20 minutes, Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis each exited the vehicle, completed a series of tests designed to evaluate the suit’s mobility, thermal systems and the Dragon mobility aid “Skywalker” before returning to the cabin and closing the hatch. Mission Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon monitored vital support systems throughout the operation.
Once the hatch was closed, Dragon was re-pressurized, cabin oxygen and pressure levels confirmed, and the crew was able to remove their EVA suits, officially completing the suit testing alongside the first commercial spacewalk and the first EVA from a Dragon spacecraft.
THE CREW
The Polaris Dawn crew will combine their expertise, knowledge, and passion for spaceflight to further human space exploration. This will be the first human spaceflight for Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon. Mission Commander Jared Isaacman previously flew to space as commander of Inspiration4. This will also be the first time two SpaceX employees will be part of a human spaceflight crew, providing valuable insight to future missions on the road to making life multiplanetary.
Hello Earth –
We are so grateful for all the support! Please enjoy two recent photos from our mission and stay tuned for our next message 🎶
Sent to you from space over a beam of Starlink laser light 🛰️ – Crew of Polaris Dawn pic.twitter.com/KkeZw1yAoT
— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
