Tech billionaire returns to Earth after completing first private spacewalk

On September 15, 2024, news from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A tech billionaire, Jared Isaacman, and his crew returned to Earth on Sunday after completing the first private spacewalk, ending a five-day space journey. They reached a higher altitude than anyone has reached since NASA's moonwalkers.

SpaceX's capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Dry Tortugas, Florida, before dawn. The people on board included Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers, and a former Air Force "Thunderbird" pilot. They completed the first private spacewalk in an orbit nearly 460 miles from Earth, higher than the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 875 miles after being launched on Tuesday. Isaacman became the 264th person to conduct a spacewalk, and SpaceX's Sarah Gilles became the 265th.

After the capsule returned, Isaacman said via radio from inside the capsule that the mission was completed. Less than an hour later, the four people walked out of the spacecraft and waved their fists excitedly. This is the first time SpaceX has aimed to splash down near the Dry Tortugas. Due to two weeks of bad weather forecasts, the location had to be changed. During Thursday's commercial spacewalk, less than half an hour after the Dragon spacecraft's hatch opened, Isaacman and Gilles tested brand-new spacesuits one after another. This spacewalk lasted less than two hours, much shorter than spacewalks on the International Space Station. SpaceX considers this the starting point for testing spacesuit technology to prepare for future Mars missions. This is Isaacman's second charter flight with SpaceX. Under his privately funded space exploration program, there are two more flights. He raised more than $250 million for his first spaceflight in 2021. For this "Polaris Dawn" mission, he and SpaceX jointly bear the cost but did not disclose the specific amount.