Billionaire Isaacman completes historic spacewalk

Mr. Isaacman exits the spacecraft for a spacewalk

The Washington Post reported on September 12 that American billionaire Jared Isaacman had just completed the first private astronaut spacewalk, broadcast live outside SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

Mr. Isaacman, 41, was the first to exit, followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, 30. They were two of four civilian astronauts on board.

The spacewalk, which lasted several minutes outside the spacecraft, was to test SpaceX's new spacesuits, designed to keep astronauts safe in space, with its radiation and extreme temperatures.

SpaceX spent more than two years developing a slim-fit suit that is designed to allow for maximum mobility.

Called Polaris Dawn, the mission is a milestone for the growing commercial space industry as it continues to erode the longstanding government monopoly on the sector. The flight was authorized by Isaacman, founder of payment engine Shift4 Payments and not affiliated with NASA. He did not say how much he paid for the flight.

Also on board were two other members: Scott "Kidd" Poteet (51 years old), a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and fighter pilot, and Anna Menon (39 years old), who serves as SpaceX mission director and astronaut liaison.

They took off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA) early on the morning of September 10 (local time) on a mission expected to last 5 days.

SpaceX depressurized the spacecraft before opening the hatch, exposing all four crew members to the vacuum of space. Although they did not exit the spacecraft, astronauts Poteet and Menon wore spacesuits because the capsule did not have an airtight compartment.

Aside from the spacewalk, the spacecraft flew higher than any human spaceflight mission since the last Apollo moon mission in 1972.

The crew reached an altitude of more than 1,400 km, or three times higher than the International Space Station (ISS), and orbited Earth six times at that altitude, before returning to a lower altitude for the spacewalk.

Any human spaceflight mission has risks, but the liftoff and descent of a spacecraft are particularly dangerous. Ground engineers must carefully choreograph the trajectory to ensure the capsule does not crash into satellites or space debris orbiting Earth.

"During this mission, the Dragon spacecraft will repeatedly pass through the orbital altitudes of more than 10 satellites and space debris. There is no room for error in our calculations," SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote on social network X.

According to AFP, Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions of the Polaris program, a collaboration between Mr. Isaacman and SpaceX.

The Polaris mission is ultimately aimed at carrying out the first manned flight of SpaceX's Starship, a spacecraft prototype that plays a key role in Mr Musk's Mars colonization ambitions.

The fun of spacewalking

Spacewalks are among the most dangerous activities astronauts undertake, but they offer a first-hand view of Earth from space. NASA astronaut Ed White, the first American to walk in space in 1965, joked that he wouldn't return to the Gemini spacecraft because "this was so much fun." When he returned, he called it "the saddest moment of my life."

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