Billionaire And Engineer Conduct First Private Spacewalk In SpaceX Mission
6 days ago
Astronauts aboard a SpaceX capsule in orbit on Thursday (September 12) opened the vehicle's hatch, and two crew members emerged into the vacuum of space.
They are the first private citizens to conduct such an excursion.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman exited the Crew Dragon capsule first, and had these words for the audience back home: "Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world."
Isaacman was followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis.
Only government astronauts with several years of training have done spacewalks in the past.
The mission appeared to successfully test trailblazing equipment, including slim spacesuits and a process to fully depressurize the Crew Dragon cabin.
And it was one of the riskiest treks yet for Elon Musk's space company, the only private firm capable of routinely sending humans to and from Earth's orbit.
Isaacman, the 41-year-old founder of electronic payments company Shift4 is bankrolling the mission. It's his second trip to orbit with SpaceX.
He has declined to say how much he is paying, but the missions are likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
They are the first private citizens to conduct such an excursion.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman exited the Crew Dragon capsule first, and had these words for the audience back home: "Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world."
Isaacman was followed by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis.
Only government astronauts with several years of training have done spacewalks in the past.
The mission appeared to successfully test trailblazing equipment, including slim spacesuits and a process to fully depressurize the Crew Dragon cabin.
And it was one of the riskiest treks yet for Elon Musk's space company, the only private firm capable of routinely sending humans to and from Earth's orbit.
Isaacman, the 41-year-old founder of electronic payments company Shift4 is bankrolling the mission. It's his second trip to orbit with SpaceX.
He has declined to say how much he is paying, but the missions are likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
