Tech billionaire emerges from capsule in 1st civilian spacewalk in history

A silhouetted figure stands in stark contrast against the bright blue of planet Earth, his torso emerging from a space capsule hundreds of kilometres above the atmosphere.

The man is Jared Isaacman, a tech billionaire who became the first civilian in history to perform a commercial spacewalk. Before today, the only people who could attempt such a high-risk endeavour had been professional astronauts, plucked from the ranks of fighter pilots and highly educated scientists.

Isaacman is the first person in what may prove to be a long line of civilians to walk in the cold expanse of space using dollars and industry connections alone, bypassing national space agencies.

The spacewalk was quick and simple, lasting less than two hours. Isaacman, the founder of a credit-card-processing company, exited SpaceX’s Dragon capsule first. He hoisted himself up through the hatch and marvelled at Earth, 740 kilometres below.

“Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” the 41-year-old CEO said.

For about 15 minutes, Isaacman bobbed up and down in the weightless environment, keeping at least one hand or foot on the capsule at all times. He was wearing a new spacewalking suit designed by SpaceX for the mission and he flexed his arms and legs to see how the suit held up in the vacuum of space.

Isaacman then retreated back into the capsule and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis was next to emerge. Gillis also tested out the spacesuit by twisting her arms and sent reports back to Mission Control.

The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, was an overall success, but there were a few mishaps along the way. Isaacman had to open the hatch manually instead of pushing a button on board, with the camera cutting out from the capsule for a few minutes. Before heading out, Gillis reported seeing bulges in the hatch seal, which another SpaceX engineer said during the livestream was “not unexpected.”

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Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon stayed strapped to their seats to monitor from inside during the spacewalk. All four underwent intensive training before the trip.

Thursday’s spacewalk was the the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Isaacman and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and the culmination of years of development geared toward settling Mars and other planets. (Isaacman has declined to disclose how much he invested in the flight.)

Still, it was a far cry from the kind of spacewalks performed by professional astronauts on board the International Space Station. When the station needs repairs, astronauts must lug gear and parts along the outside of the sprawling complex to do meticulous work. Station spacewalks can last seven to eight hours.

More and more wealthy passengers are plunking down huge sums for rides aboard private rockets to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Other have spent tens of millions to stay in space for days or even weeks. Space experts and risk analysts say it’s inevitable that some will seek the thrill of spacewalking, deemed one of the most dangerous parts of spaceflight after launch and reentry but also the most soul-stirring.

Until Thursday, only 263 people had conducted a spacewalk, representing 12 countries. The Soviet Union’s Alexei Leonov kicked it off in 1965, followed a few months later by NASA’s Ed White.

— With files from The Associated Press