A daredevil billionairerocketed back into orbitTuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture further into the final frontier than anyone since NASA’s Apollo moonshots.
Unlike his previous chartered flight, tech entrepreneurJared Isaacmanshared the costwith SpaceXthis time, including developing and testing brand new spacesuits to see how they’ll hold up in the harsh vacuum of space.
If all goes as planned, it will be the first time private citizens have conducted a spacewalk, but he wont venture away from the capsule. 5 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Resilience capsule, carrying the crew of the Polaris Dawn Mission, lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sept. 10, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Considered one of the riskiest parts of spaceflight, spacewalks have been the sole realm of professional astronauts since the former Soviet Union popped open the hatch in 1965, closely followed by the US Today, they are routinely done at the International Space Station.
Isaacman, along with a pair of SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot, launched before dawn aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. The spacewalk is scheduled for Thursday, midway through the five-day flight.
But first, the passengers are shooting for way beyond the International Space Station an altitude of 870 miles, which would surpass the Earth-lapping record set during NASAs Project Gemini in 1966.
Only the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon have ventured farther.
The plan is to spend 10 hours at that height filled with extreme radiation and riddled with debris before reducing the oval-shaped orbit by half.
Even at this lower 435 miles, the orbit would eclipse the space station and even the Hubble Space Telescope, the highest shuttle astronauts flew. 5 Unlike his previous chartered flight, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman shared the cost with SpaceX this time, including developing and testing brand new spacesuits to see how they’ll hold up in the harsh vacuum. @SpaceX/X
All four wore SpaceXs spacewalking suits because the entire Dragon capsule would be depressurized for the two-hour spacewalk, exposing everyone to the dangerous environment.
Isaacman and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis will take turns briefly popping out of the hatch. Theyll test their white and black-trimmed custom suits by twisting their bodies.
Both will always have a hand or foot touching the capsule or attached support structure that resembles the top of a pool ladder.
There will be no dangling at the end of their 12-foot tethers and no jetpack showboating. Only NASAs suits at the space station come equipped with jetpacks, for emergency use only. 5 All four wore SpaceXs spacewalking suits because the entire Dragon capsule would be depressurized for the two-hour spacewalk, exposing everyone to the dangerous environment. @SpaceX/X
Pilot Scott Kidd Poteet and SpaceXs Anna Menon will monitor the spacewalk from inside. Like SpaceXs previous astronaut flights, this one will end with a splashdown off the Florida coast.
Were sending you hugs from the ground, Launch Director Frank Messina radioed after the crew reached orbit. May you make history and come home safely.
Isaacman replied: We wouldnt be on this journey without all 14,000 of you back at SpaceX and everyone else cheering us on.
At a preflight news conference, Isaacman CEO and founder of the credit card processing company Shift4 refused to say how much he invested in the flight. Not a chance, he said. 5 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Resilience capsule, carrying the crew of the Polaris Dawn Mission, lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sept. 10, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
SpaceX teamed up with Isaacman to pay for spacesuit development and associated costs, said William Gerstenmaier, a SpaceX vice president who once headed space mission operations for NASA.
Were really starting to push the frontiers with the private sector, Gerstenmaier said.
Its the first of three trips that Isaacman bought from Elon Musk two and a half years ago, soon after returning from his first private SpaceX spaceflight in 2021.
Isaacman bankrolled that tourist ride for an undisclosed sum, taking along contest winners and a childhood cancer survivor. The trip raised hundreds of millions for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. 5 Its the first of three trips that Isaacman bought from Elon Musk two and a half years ago, soon after returning from his first private SpaceX spaceflight in 2021. AP
Spacesuit development took longer than anticipated, delaying this first so-called Polaris Dawn flight until now.
Training was extensive; Poteet said it rivaled anything he experienced during his Air Force flying career.
As SpaceX astronaut trainers, Gillis and Menon helped Isaacman and his previous team as well as NASAs professional crews prepare for their rides.
I wasnt alive when humans walked on the moon. Id certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system,” the 41-year-old Isaacman said before liftoff.
Poor weather caused a two-week delay.
The crew needed favorable forecasts not only for launch, but for splashdown days later. With limited supplies and no ability to reach the space station, they had no choice but to wait for conditions to improve.
