[astronaut]

On September 12, four non-professional astronauts became the first civilians in human history to complete a spacewalk.

For the first time, an unaffiliated civilian with giant organizations like NASA or any government agency successfully ventured outside a spacecraft.

It was the first time a commercial astronaut performed a spacewalk using a commercial spacecraft.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gills, launched the spacecraft on September 10 from the Kennedy Space Center.

Broadcast live on SpaceX’s official website and YouTube channel, the spacewalk featured Isaacman exiting the Dragon spacecraft at 6:50 AM, venturing into space.

The members, along with Isaacman, orbited over 730 kilometers above Earth, moving at a speed of 25,000-26,000 km/h.

On top of that was Isaac, holding onto a structure called the “Skywalker” attached to the hatch, as he stood alone in space with the Earth in the background.

After spending around 10 minutes outside the spacecraft, Isaacman returned, and Sarah Gillis took over, completing her own spacewalk, with the entire spacewalk taking approximately 20 minutes.

With such historical achievement, SpaceX has proven its growth to beat the aerospace giant Boeing in providing rides for NASA astronauts.

NASA hailed this historic achievement as a “giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry, raising optimism for future expansion.

Prior to space exploration, the astronauts underwent a “prebeathe” process to avoid sickness from decompression, a condition that may potentially occur when nitrogen in the blood forms bubbles from the vacuum of space.

Furthermore, the crew members performed mobility tests with their space suits on, ensuring the joint mobility systems and the helmet cameras.

Such prudent management was necessary because the crew members were exposed to the vacuum of space the entire time, as SpaceX did not have an airlock.

Consequently, while Isaacman and Gillis conducted the spacewalk, the other two crew members remained inside to support the mission by monitoring the spacecraft’s systems.

NASA administrators therefore did acknowledge the risk of the spacecraft, especially considering its commercial purposes.

After the completion of the historic spacewalk, the hatch was sealed and cabin pressure was restored, officially making the success of the mission.

Jared Isaacman, the pilot and founder of Shift4, was behind the success of the Polaris Dawn mission.

In 2021, he led SpaceX’s first civilian mission, Inspiration4, and announced plans for three additional spaceflights with SpaceX as part of the Polaris program.

The crew, consisting of Isaacman, retired Air Force pilot Scott Kidd Potty, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gills and Anna Menon, launched aboard a Falcon 9 into space on September 10.

Throughout the course mission, the crew will conduct 36 experiments, test laser-based communications through SpaceX’s starlink satellites, and evaluate the performance of newly developed EVA suits.

The Polaris Dawn team plans to conclude their missions with a splashdown in waters off the coast of Florida after a five-day journey in space.