In a Space-First event, the Polaris Dawn Mission on SpaceX’s newest dragon capsule was the first private spacewalk in history. The Polaris Dawn team is led by billionaire entrepreneur, Jared Isaacman, who is the CEO of Shift4. The crew includes two SpaceX employees and a former military pilot. After weeks of delays due to technical checks and weather, it was finally given the green light.
Until today, only government run space programmes have commandeered spacewalks. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has developed exciting new suits that are light years ahead of those used before by NASA and other space exploration groups. The SpaceX stated goals are ambitious and Musk believes that an unmanned expedition to Mars is possible within 2-years and a human mission possible by 2030.
SpaceX is the only private company that has programs designed to take humanity beyond Earth to live and work in space. Polaris Dawn is not a NASA mission, and not regulated by the US government. So when its astronauts exited their capsule and “walked” in space barley an hour ago (around13H00 SAST), it marked a massive first for the private space industry.
Jared Isaacman, who had the code name EV1 For the mission was the first to exit the capsule, and joins an exclusive group of humans who have walked in space. It’s gorgeous,” he commented as he exited the capsule into space. He is quoted as previously saying “I wasn’t alive when humans walked on the Moon,” “I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the Moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system.”
He was followed out of the capsule by Sarah Gillis who conducted s series of mobility tests of the new spacesuits. Gillis is a senior Space X engineer. The other two team members are Scott Poteet, a pilot and retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX employee Anna Menon, who is a senior engineer at the SpaceX company.
The official status after the event is that the crew are all well and that technically all the new equipment including the all new Space link laser communication system that had functioned well had been a success, opening the possibility of further spacewalk opportunities.
