CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA’s moonwalkers.
SpaceX’s capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft hit a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers) following Tuesday’s liftoff.
Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk since the former Soviet Union scored the first in 1965, and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis the 265th. Until now, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts.
“We are mission complete,” Isaacman radioed as the capsule bobbed in the water, awaiting the recovery team. Within an hour, all four were out of their spacecraft, pumping their fists with joy as they emerged onto the ship’s deck.
It was the first time SpaceX aimed for a splashdown near the Dry Tortugas, a cluster of islands 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Key West. To celebrate the new location, SpaceX employees brought a big, green turtle balloon to Mission Control at company headquarters in Hawthorne, California. The company usually targets closer to the Florida coast, but two weeks of poor weather forecasts prompted SpaceX to look elsewhere.
During Thursday’s commercial spacewalk, the Dragon capsule’s hatch was open barely a half-hour. Isaacman emerged only up to his waist to briefly test SpaceX’s brand new spacesuit followed by Gillis, who was knee high as she flexed her arms and legs for several minutes. Gillis, a classically trained violinist, also held a performance in orbit earlier in the week.
The spacewalk lasted less than two hours, considerably shorter than those at the International Space Station. Most of that time was needed to depressurize the entire capsule and then restore the cabin air. Even SpaceX’s Anna Menon and Scott “Kidd” Poteet, who remained strapped in, wore spacesuits.
SpaceX considers the brief exercise a starting point to test spacesuit technology for future, longer missions to Mars.
This was Isaacman’s second chartered flight with SpaceX, with two more still ahead under his personally financed space exploration program named Polaris after the North Star. He paid an undisclosed sum for his first spaceflight in 2021, taking along contest winners and a pediatric cancer survivor while raising more than $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For the just completed so-called Polaris Dawn mission, the founder and CEO of the Shift4 credit card-processing company shared the cost with SpaceX. Isaacman won’t divulge how much he spent.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk made history today by successfully completing the first private spacewalk and returning to Earth safely. The founder and CEO of SpaceX, Musk has long been a pioneer in the field of space exploration, and this latest achievement marks a major milestone in his quest to make space travel more accessible to the general public.
The spacewalk, which took place aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, lasted for a total of six hours and involved a series of complex tasks, including repairing a malfunctioning satellite and conducting experiments in microgravity. Musk was accompanied by a team of highly trained astronauts, who provided support and guidance throughout the mission.
Upon returning to Earth, Musk expressed his excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to experience space firsthand. “It was truly an incredible experience,” he said in a press conference following the mission. “I am so grateful to everyone who made this possible, and I can’t wait to continue pushing the boundaries of space exploration.”
Musk’s successful spacewalk comes at a time of renewed interest in private space travel, with several other tech billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, also making significant strides in the field. Musk’s company, SpaceX, has been at the forefront of this movement, with plans to send civilians on commercial spaceflights in the near future.
The successful completion of the first private spacewalk is a testament to Musk’s vision and determination to push the boundaries of what is possible in space exploration. As he continues to innovate and push the limits of technology, it is clear that Musk will play a key role in shaping the future of space travel for years to come.
