After a five-day trip that saw them reach greater altitudes than any human since NASA's moon landings, billionaire spacewalker Jared Isaacman and his crew returned to Earth on Sunday. The crew of SpaceX's capsule landed in the early hours of the morning close to Florida's Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers, and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot made up the crew. By working together, they completed the first private spacewalk and orbited the Earth at a height of over 460 miles (740 kilometers), higher than both the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. After taking off on Tuesday, their spaceship ascended to a maximum height of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers).
Isaacman became the 264th person to conduct a spacewalk, while SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis became the 265th. This marked a historic achievement, as all previous spacewalks were conducted by professional astronauts. Isaacman signaled the mission's success after splashdown, with the team expressing their joy after emerging from the spacecraft.
The splashdown near the Dry Tortugas was a first for SpaceX, as the company usually targets closer to the Florida coast. Poor weather conditions over the past two weeks led the team to choose this new location. To celebrate the splashdown site, SpaceX employees brought a turtle balloon to Mission Control.
During the commercial spacewalk on Thursday, the Dragon capsule’s hatch was opened for just over half an hour. Isaacman only emerged up to his waist to test SpaceX’s new spacesuit, and Gillis followed, flexing her arms and legs in the suit. Although brief, this marked an important milestone for testing new spacesuit technology.
The spacewalk lasted less than two hours, shorter than those conducted on the International Space Station. Most of the time was spent depressurizing and repressurizing the capsule. Even the two other crew members, Anna Menon and Scott “Kidd” Poteet, remained suited up during the spacewalk despite staying inside the capsule.
This quick spacewalk is seen by SpaceX as an essential first step towards testing technology that may be applied to lengthier journeys to Mars. The company's long-term objectives of technology development and space exploration are aided by the exercise's success.
Isaacman's second flight with SpaceX that was privately funded was this one. His Polaris Dawn mission is a component of the larger, independently funded Polaris space exploration program. This program still has two more missions planned that will push the frontiers of private space exploration.
In addition to funding a space mission in 2021, Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4, a credit card processing business. Over $250 million was raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by that mission, which featured contest winners and a pediatric cancer survivor.
Isaacman and SpaceX split the cost of the Polaris Dawn mission, however the precise sum is yet unknown. The mission enhances SpaceX's goals for long-term space missions and is a major step toward future private space endeavors.
This mission continues the trend of private enterprises becoming more involved in space research, showing how commercial endeavors can support scientific discoveries and future expeditions to places like Mars. Isaacman's ongoing contributions demonstrate the increasing influence of ordinary citizens on the direction of space exploration.
Missions such as Polaris Dawn, which are vital testbeds for new technologies and ambitious initiatives, are setting the way for even bigger breakthroughs in the future years as space exploration becomes more commercialized.
