A tech billionaire conducted the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth on September 12, a high-risk mission until now reserved for professional astronauts.
Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman has teamed up with SpaceX to test the company’s new spacesuits aboard his charter flight. The daring spacewalk also saw SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillies exit once Mr Isaacman was safely back inside.
This spacewalk was simple and quick – less than two hours – compared to the long work conducted by NASA. Astronauts on the International Space Station often need to move through the sprawling complex to make repairs, as they always travel in pairs and carry towing equipment. Spacewalks on the station can last seven to eight hours.
Mr. Isaacman emerged first from the hatch, joining a small group of astronauts that had until now included only professional astronauts from a dozen countries.
“Back home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” Mr. Isaacman said as the capsule flew over the South Pacific Ocean. “But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” Mr. Isaacman said as the capsule flew over the South Pacific. Silhouette, his waist high at the opening, with the blue earth beneath him.
A commercial spacewalk was the main focus of the five-day flight funded by Mr. Isaacman and Elon Musk’s company, and the culmination of years of development geared toward colonizing Mars and other planets.
The four on board wore new spacewalk suits to protect themselves from the harsh vacuum. They launched on September 10 from Florida, blasting farther from Earth than any other rocket since NASA’s astronauts. The orbit was cut in half — to 460 miles (740 kilometers) — for the spacewalk.
The first spacewalk test involves more stretching than walking. Mr. Isaacman kept his hand or foot attached to it the entire time while he flexed his arms and legs to see how the spacesuit held up. The opening features a walker-like structure for extra support.
After about 10 minutes outside, Mr. Isaacman was replaced by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis to perform the same movements. Ms. Gillis bobbed up and down in weightlessness, no higher than her knees outside the capsule, as she twisted her arms and reported back to Mission Control.
Each had 12-foot (3.6 m) tethers, but they did not open or dangle at the end unlike on the space station, where astronauts routinely float in a much lower orbit.
More and more wealthy passengers are spending huge sums to ride on private rockets to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Others have spent tens of millions to stay in space for days or even weeks. Space experts and risk analysts say it’s inevitable that some will seek the thrill of a spacewalk, which is considered one of the most dangerous parts of space flight after launch and return, but also the most soul-stirring.
This process was meticulously planned with little room for error. Trying out new spacesuits from new spacewalking spacecraft raises the stakes. So did the fact that the entire capsule was exposed to the vacuum of space.
There were a few glitches. Mr. Isaacman had to open the door manually instead of pressing the onboard button. Before exiting, Ms. Gillis reported seeing bulges in the seal opening.
Scott “Kid” Poteet, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon remained strapped into their seats to watch from inside. The four underwent extensive training before the trip.
Mission controllers declared the spacewalk complete from the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, after one hour and 46 minutes, or a full orbit and then a full orbit around Earth.
SpaceX commentator Kate Tice said it passed “in the blink of an eye.”
Mr. Isaacman, 41, CEO and founder of credit card processing company Shift4, declined to reveal how much he had invested in the trip. This was the first of three flights in a program called Polaris; This was called Polaris Down. On SpaceX’s inaugural private flight in 2021, he welcomed the competition winners and a cancer survivor.
As of September 12, only 263 people have performed a spacewalk, representing 12 countries. It was launched by Alexei Leonov of the Soviet Union in 1965, followed a few months later by Ed White of NASA.
This story was reported by the Associated Press.
