A crew led by a billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth on Sunday after a five-day trip that took them higher than any NASA moonwalker. Their spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas before dawn. The crew, consisting of a tech entrepreneur, two SpaceX engineers, and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, completed the first private spacewalk at an altitude of 460 miles above Earth, surpassing the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 875 miles after liftoff on Tuesday.
Isaacman and Gillis became the 264th and 265th people to perform a spacewalk, marking the first time non-professional astronauts have accomplished this feat. Isaacman radioed “mission complete” as they awaited recovery, and all four crew members rejoiced as they emerged onto the ship’s deck.
The crew’s Dragon capsule landed near the Dry Tortugas, a first for SpaceX, prompting excitement among employees at the company’s headquarters in California. During the commercial spacewalk on Thursday, crew members tested SpaceX’s new spacesuits, with Gillis even holding a performance in orbit earlier in the week.
The spacewalk lasted less than two hours, with most of the time spent on capsule depressurization and cabin air restoration. This was seen as a test for future missions to Mars, part of Isaacman’s Polaris space exploration program. Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 credit card-processing company, has chartered two more flights with SpaceX, contributing to the advancement of spacesuit technology for longer missions.
More Stories
Donald Trump safe as Secret Service shoot suspected person near club