SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission achieves historic private spacewalk

Technology entrepreneur and space/aviation enthusiast Jared Isaacman launched Tuesday, September 10, on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission. Powered by a Falcon 9 rocket, Polaris Dawn is the first of three privately funded flights. Isaacman is joined by fellow crew members Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a close friend and retired USAF pilot, along with SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

Dubbed “Resilience,” the spacecraft has already bested the distance any human has traveled into space since NASA's Apollo program in the 1970s. The crew, protected from heightened radiation levels by their extravehicular-activity space suits, has already reached the Van Allen belt region.

Having performed more than 40 scientific experiments after achieving the mission’s peak altitude of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles), the crew anticipates participating in the first privately sponsored extravehicular activity (EVA) excursion in history tomorrow—Day 3 of the mission. Because Resilience is not configured with an air lock, the entire cabin must be depressurized for the spacewalk. All four crew members must secure their space suits even though only Isaacman and Gillis plan to exit the spacecraft.