SpaceX Makes History with First Spacewalks by Private Citizens

AFP/APP

Washington: A pioneering private crew made history on Thursday as the first civilians to perform spacewalks, with NASA hailing the achievement as “a giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched early Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew journeyed deeper into space than any humans have since the Apollo program, reaching a peak orbit of 434 miles (700 kilometers).

On Thursday morning, pure oxygen began flowing into their suits, marking the official start of their extravehicular activity (EVA) at 1012 GMT. Shortly after, Isaacman opened the hatch and climbed through, using hand and footholds on a structure known as “Skywalker” to enjoy a breathtaking view of Earth below.

“It’s gorgeous,” Isaacman told mission control in Hawthorne, California, where teams celebrated each milestone.

This achievement is another major milestone for SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Initially underestimated by the aerospace industry, SpaceX has grown into a leading force, notably beating Boeing in 2020 to deliver a spacecraft for NASA astronauts traveling to the International Space Station.

“Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and NASA’s long-term goal to build a vibrant US space economy,” NASA chief Bill Nelson wrote on X, the social media platform also owned by Musk.

Suit Tests

Before the hatch opened, the crew underwent a “prebreathe” procedure to remove nitrogen from their bloodstream, preventing decompression sickness. The cabin pressure was then gradually lowered to match the vacuum of space.

Isaacman and crewmate Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, spent a few minutes performing mobility tests on SpaceX’s next-generation suits, which feature heads-up displays, helmet cameras, and enhanced joint mobility.

They then returned inside, and the EVA officially ended after an hour and 46 minutes with cabin re-pressurization.

Although this marked a first for the commercial sector, it fell short of the daring feats achieved during the early space era. Early spacefarers like Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov ventured away from their spacecraft on tethers, and some Space Shuttle astronauts used jetpacks to fly untethered.

Since the Dragon spacecraft lacks an airlock, the entire crew was exposed to the vacuum of space. Mission pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon remained strapped in to monitor vital support systems.

“The risk is greater than zero, that’s for sure, and it’s certainly higher than anything that has been accomplished on a commercial basis,” said former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe.

First of Three Polaris Missions

The spacewalk followed an ambitious phase of the mission, during which the Dragon spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 870 miles, placing the crew more than three times higher than the International Space Station in the inner Van Allen radiation belt—a zone filled with high-energy particles.

The crew underwent over two years of training, including hundreds of hours on simulators, skydiving, scuba diving, and summiting an Ecuadoran volcano.

Upcoming tasks include testing laser-based satellite communications with the Starlink constellation and conducting experiments such as tests on contact lenses with embedded microelectronics to monitor changes in eye pressure and shape in space.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions under the Polaris program, a collaboration between Isaacman and SpaceX.

Although the financial details of the partnership remain undisclosed, Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4Payments, reportedly invested $200 million of his own fortune in leading the 2021 all-civilian SpaceX Inspiration4 orbital mission.

The final Polaris mission aims to be the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship, a next-generation rocket central to Musk’s plans for Mars colonization.