Washington: Two astronauts from a SpaceX capsule have carried out the world’s first private spacewalk, hundreds of kilometres from Earth.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman, 41, exited first, followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, 30, to become the first two non-government individuals to conduct such an excursion in space. All their manoeuvres streamed live on the company’s website.
They were tethered to the Crew Dragon spacecraft in the vacuum of space while two others watched from inside.
“Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said after emerging from the spacecraft, silhouetted with the half-lit planet glittering 700 kilometres below him.
Before the spacewalk began, the capsule was completely depressurised, with the whole crew relying on their slim, SpaceX-developed spacesuits for oxygen, provided via an umbilical connection to Crew Dragon.
The spacewalk was scheduled to last only about 30 minutes, but the procedures to prepare for it and to finish it safely lasted an hour and 46 minutes. It marked a risky test of the new spacesuit designs and procedures for the capsule, among other things, in a mission meant to push the boundaries of what private companies can do in Earth’s orbit.
This image from a SpaceX video shows the start of the first private spacewalk led by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman.Credit: AP
As the two astronauts returned to their cabin seats, SpaceX ground teams at the company’s Hawthorne, California, headquarters watched as the capsule’s hatch door sealed shut and carried out leak checks.
Isaacman, Gillis, Scott Poteet, 50, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, 38, had been orbiting Earth aboard Crew Dragon since Tuesday’s pre-dawn launch from Florida of the Polaris Dawn mission. Menon and Poteet remained inside the spacecraft during the spacewalk.