For the first time in history, a private citizen has left the confines of a spaceship while flying through space — an exercise that before now was only performed by trained astronauts.
The unprecedented commercial spacewalk was part of SpaceX‘s Polaris Dawn mission, which sent four civilians into orbit to test the company’s new spacesuits. Tech magnate Jared Isaacman, who funded the spaceflight, was the first to conduct a spacewalk.
“From here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” he said during a livestream on X, formerly called Twitter, that captured the whole event.
Polaris Dawn Commander Jared Isaacman exits the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule during a spacewalk on Sept. 12, 2024.
Credit: SpaceX / X screenshot
Around 6 a.m. ET on Sept. 12, the crew depressurized the cabin and proceeded to open the capsule’s forward hatch. Isaacman then popped out of the hole into the vacuum of space like a prairie dog, about 450 miles above Earth. The bright blue marble backlit Isaacman as he clung to guardrails mounted outside the ship with one hand. His other arm was strangely posed as if it were inside a sock puppet.
Despite having “walk” in the term, a spacewalk doesn’t necessarily involve walking, but merely the act of going outside a spacecraft in flight. At the International Space Station, astronauts routinely leave the orbiting lab, dangling on a tether, to perform maintenance tasks.
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Wearing a helmet camera, Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman emerges from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Credit: SpaceX / X screenshot
The five-day Polaris Dawn mission has so far accomplished its goals on the Crew Dragon capsule. The main purpose of the flight is to test the fit and mobility of the spacesuits.
The X post above was the livestream of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk on Sept. 12, 2024.
The crew is composed of regular people — that is, if you consider a billionaire, two SpaceX engineers, and a retired U.S. Air Force combat pilot to be “regular.” They include Isaacman, who founded the Shift4 credit card-processing company, pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and medical officer Anna Menon.
Mission specialist Sarah Gillis performs a spacewalk to test the flexibility of her spacesuit on Sept. 12, 2024.
Credit: SpaceX / X screenshot
Menon actually beat her husband, new NASA astronaut Anil Menon, to space. Prior to his recruitment for astronaut training in 2021, Dr. Menon was SpaceX’s medical director. Anna Menon, however, did not leave her seat during the spacewalk, nor did Poteet.
Following Isaacman, Gillis exited the spacecraft for a similar test, flexing her arms but never letting go of the bars outside the hatch for a free float.
Mission specialist Sarah Gillis exits the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a spacewalk on Sept. 12, 2024.
Credit: SpaceX / X screenshot
NASA administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX in a post on X, the social platform owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
“Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA’s long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy,” he said.
