Polaris Dawn has once again made history with the first private spacewalk. On Thursday, Sept. 12, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis ventured out of their Dragon spacecraft, dressed in the latest SpaceX spacesuits, at an altitude of 460 miles—higher than most recent space missions.
This marked a significant technical milestone and symbolized the growing accessibility of space activities for private entities.
The mission, launched from Florida, reached an orbit not achieved since the Apollo moon missions and focused on testing the durability and functionality of these commercial spacesuits in the vacuum of space.
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During the spacewalk, the crew encountered technical glitches. Isaacman manually opened the hatch due to a malfunction, and Gillis reported seeing bulges in the hatch seal before exiting. Despite these challenges, the operation was successful, closely monitored by SpaceX’s mission control in California.
The milestone marks a significant step forward in enabling private commercial access to spacewalks and possibly future trips to Mars.
