Spacex’s Polaris Dawn Mission Crew Completes First All-Civilian Spacewalk

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis ventured out into the vacuum of space early Thursday and made history.

Four private citizens orbiting Earth in a SpaceX capsule made history Thursday by completing the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk.

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched into space Tuesday to begin a five-day flight.

Their spacewalk began at 6:12 a.m. ET, having been delayed a few hours, and ended at 7:58 a.m. ET.

Completion of the spacewalk was a major milestone for the Polaris Dawn flight. Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies had conducted spacewalks to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and complete science experiments.

During Thursday’s outing, Isaacman and Gillis exited the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a tether, each spending around 10 minutes out in the vacuum of space. Although they were the only ones to venture outside the spacecraft, all four crew members wore and tested newly designed spacesuits during the event. That’s because the Crew Dragon does not have a pressurized airlock, so the entire capsule was depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions.

Overall, the Polaris Dawn mission is designed to test procedures and technologies that could be used in future long-duration space missions. Already in their journey, the crew members flew to the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface.

The flight was funded by Isaacman for an undisclosed sum.

While Isaacman and Gillis were the only ones to exit the capsule, the entire Dragon spacecraft was exposed to vacuum conditions.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson relayed good wishes to SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew in a statement on social media. “Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history!” Nelson wrote. “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.”

The five-day mission will also help researchers assess the health of astronauts and their spacecraft in different space radiation environments, which could help SpaceX plan future missions to the moon and Mars.

At the end of the expedition, the Crew Dragon capsule will splash down off the coast of Florida, but SpaceX has not yet released details about the upcoming landing.