Watch: SpaceX conducts first private spacewalk with billionaire on Polaris Dawn mission

Holly Patrick
Thursday 12 September 2024 09:34 EDT
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Watch live as a billionaire floated in space in the first-ever privately-funded spacewalk as part of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission on Thursday, 12 September.

Jared Isaacman joined SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis to step out of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Today's attempt was the Elon Musk-led company's latest and riskiest bid to push the boundaries of commercial spaceflight.

The capsule was completely depressurized, and the whole crew will rely on their slim, SpaceX-developed spacesuits for oxygen.

A backup opportunity is available on Friday at the same time.

The main aim of the endeavour is to test SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity (EVA) astronaut suits, which have been designed to eventually take astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Fellow Polaris Dawn crew members Anna Menon and Kidd Poteet remained in the capsule, with 36 research studies and experiments planned for the five-day mission.

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