A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission with two crew members expected to attempt the first-ever private spacewalk, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Jewish tech billionaire Jared Isaacman was one of two private astronauts aboard a SpaceX spacecraft to complete on Thursday the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
SpaceX live streamed the all-civilian Polaris Dawn mission on social media early Thursday morning. Isaacman, 41, was the first to exit SpaceX’s Dragon capsule as it orbited Earth, followed shortly afterward by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis. After opening the hatch of the spacecraft, making his way out and looking at his view of the world, Isaacman said, “Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, it looks like a perfect world.” He and Gillis each spent roughly 10 minutes outside the Dragon capsule and the spacewalk ended at 7:58 am ET.
The Polaris Dawn mission included retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, both of whom remained in the capsule. It launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. Isaacman funded the Polaris Dawn five-day mission, which included paying for seats for all the crew members. The mission reached an altitude of about 870 miles above Earth’s surface, making it the highest orbital altitude that a crewed space mission has reached since NASA’s final Apollo moon mission in 1972.
In a statement on X, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew for completing the first commercial spacewalk in history. “Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA’s long-term goal to build a vibrant US space economy,” he wrote.
Isaacman is the founder of Shift4 Payments, a payment processing company, and has a net worth of $1.9 billion, according to estimates by Forbes. The Polaris Dawn mission is his second mission in space after he funded and commanded the Inspiration4 mission in September 2021, which helped raise over $240 million for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Inspiration4 mission was the first orbital spaceflight featuring only private citizens, according to Space.com.
Isaacman formerly owned the jet pilot training company Draken International and has about 6,000 hours of flying experience, Space.com added. He has also done a high-speed circumnavigation of the world and air shows.
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