Space tourists went into outer space for the first time in history

During the Polaris Dawn commercial mission on the SpaceX Crew Dragon, crew members represented by Commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis successfully performed a spacewalk.

Image source: x.com/SpaceX

The spacewalk countdown began at 13:12 Moscow time, when all four crew members, including retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, donned spacesuits developed by the company and the oxygen supply began . Next, a controlled depressurization of the ship was carried out, and all four crew members became spacesuit testers – the pressure levels inside the ship and spacesuits were broadcast live. When the pressure in the ship dropped to zero, in the spacesuits it was maintained at 0.33 atmospheres, after which it was increased to 0.35.

The hatch was opened at the 38th minute, when the ship flew at an altitude of 740 km above the Indian Ocean, and two minutes later Isaacman went into outer space, where he remained for about ten minutes. This was the first spacewalk in history by a space tourist – previously only professional cosmonauts had gone out into outer space.

After him, the operation was repeated by mission specialist Sarah Gillis – by this time Crew Dragon was already over the Pacific Ocean. Upon her return, the ship’s hatch was closed again, the cabin was sealed, the pressure inside it began to return to normal, after which the crew checked for possible leaks. SpaceX live-streamed the operation on social media X.