US billionaire completes historic private spacewalk with Polaris Dawn

US billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew have successfully completed the first-ever private spacewalk, marking a significant milestone in commercial space exploration. 

Polaris Dawn, operated by SpaceX on behalf of billionaire Jared Isaacman, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas at 8:37 a.m. (GMT+1) on September 15, in darkness due to the local nighttime, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.  

The mission, which saw four private citizens aboard—SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis among them—began with the launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on September 10. The crew spent five days orbiting the Earth.   "We are mission complete," Isaacman reported as the capsule floated in the water, awaiting the recovery team. During their orbit, Isaacman became the 264th person to perform a spacewalk, a feat previously accomplished only by professional astronauts from various countries.  

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission was considered highly risky, as the crew orbited nearly 460 miles (740 km) above Earth, surpassing the altitude of both the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. Jared Isaacman, who founded the payment processor Shift4 Payments at just 16 years old and now has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion (£1.45 billion), has completed his second SpaceX chartered flight. This recent mission, Polaris Dawn, is part of his personally-financed space exploration program named Polaris, after the North Star.  

Isaacman’s first spaceflight in 2021, which was funded privately, included contest winners and a pediatric cancer survivor and raised millions for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. For Polaris Dawn, he shared the costs with SpaceX, though the specific amount he contributed remains undisclosed.   During a live feed from space, Isaacman remarked, "Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world."

The Polaris Dawn crew used SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits, with the mission primarily aimed at testing these suits. The astronauts spent about 15 minutes outside the spacecraft, performing various movements while tethered to it to assess the suits' functionality. Mission pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet and mission specialist Anna Menon remained inside, overseeing the vital support systems throughout the operation.