SpaceX astronauts complete first private spacewalk

It’s the furthest humans have been from Earth since Apollo 17, in 1972. So, what better time for a walk?

Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman commanded Polaris Dawn and performed the first ever private spacewalk, 270km above the Earth. In addition to being the first private spacewalk, it was also the highest altitude spacewalk ever attempted. Isaacman briefly left the depressurized capsule, testing the EVA (extravehicular activity) suit and its mobility systems. ‘Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,’ Isaacman said, upon seeing Earth for the first time on the walk. After returning to the capsule, mission specialist Sarah Gillis shortly followed, conducting her own mobility tests. The two EVAs were the first spacewalks performed by non-government astronauts. Scott Poteet and Anna Menon, the capsule’s two other astronauts, remained in the depressurized Dragon capsule during the spacewalk.

The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of SpaceX’s Polaris program, designed to test human exposure to the Van Allen radiation belts, and test SpaceX’s manned spaceflight capabilities. The highly elliptical orbit takes the craft from low Earth orbit (where the spacewalk was performed), to 1,400 kilometers away from Earth, into the potentially dangerous radiation belts that surround the Earth. The third and final mission, launch date yet to be determined, will test manned spaceflight aboard Starship, the first spacecraft capable, potentially, of transporting humans to Mars.

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