Private Astronauts Make History with Spacewalk on Polaris Dawn Mission

In a groundbreaking moment for private space exploration, two astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission made history on Thursday morning. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis ventured outside their Dragon spacecraft, marking the first spacewalk conducted by a private company, SpaceX. Though the spacewalk lasted only eight minutes, it represented a monumental step forward for commercial space travel.

Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and the mission’s financier, emerged from the spacecraft at 6:52 a.m. ET, orbiting near Australia. As he stood on the edge of space, Isaacman reflected on Earth’s beauty, saying, “Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” He then ran mobility tests on the new spacesuit developed by SpaceX.

Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, followed Isaacman, becoming the youngest person to perform a spacewalk at just 30 years old. Like Isaacman, Gillis carried out a series of tests on the spacesuit, which took years to design and refine.

The entire spacewalk, from depressurization to re-pressurization, took just under two hours. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson hailed the event as a “giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry and NASA’s vision of building a vibrant U.S. space economy.

While brief, these spacewalks symbolize a major advancement, with potential to shape future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.