After the first private spacewalk, SpaceX’s mission returned to Earth (video)
The crew of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission returned to Earth on Sunday, after carrying out the first private spacewalk in history this week.
Published on 09/15/2024 at 10:59
The Dragon spacecraft landed off the coast of Florida (United States) at 3:37 a.m. local time (07:37 GMT), according to images from a SpaceX video broadcast live.
A team immediately deployed to recover the capsule and the four crew members. The capsule had been slowed down in its dizzying descent by parachutes.
All the main objectives of the mission, which marks a new milestone in commercial space exploration, have been fulfilled.
It was carried out under the impetus and with the support of American billionaire Jared Isaacman, boss of the financial company Shift4. Also on board: two engineers from SpaceX, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, as well as a former US Air Force veteran, Scott Poteet.
All took off on Tuesday from Florida and on the first day, their spacecraft ventured up to 1,400 kilometers in altitude, further than any crew since the Apollo lunar missions more than half a century ago.
Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon have become the two women who have traveled farthest from Earth.
Then on Thursday the event took place: the first spacewalk carried out by civilians, a risky operation until now reserved for professional astronauts.
Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis each ventured for about ten minutes outside the ship, which was then at an altitude of 700 kilometers, still much higher than the International Space Station (ISS).
“At home, we have a lot of work but, seen from here, the Earth really looks like a perfect world,” said the 41-year-old billionaire, in front of impressive views of the blue planet broadcast live .
The two adventurers carried out movements to test their white and gray suits — SpaceX’s first intended for spacewalks.
The development and testing of these suits, which the company hopes to one day produce by the “millions” to colonize Mars, was one of the major objectives of the trip.
“Giant steps”
NASA boss Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on Thursday, saying that this event represented “a giant step forward for the commercial space industry”.
“A giant step forward for the commercial space industry”: NASA boss congratulates SpaceX on its first private spacewalk
The crew, which trained for more than two years for this mission, also tested laser communication between the spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which provide internet from space.
He finally carried out around thirty scientific experiments, notably intended to study the impact of space travel on the human body.
This is the second time that Jared Isaacman has flown aboard a SpaceX orbital mission, after a less ambitious first one that he chartered in 2021.
The businessman defends the need for private investment to accelerate the technological developments necessary for the goal he shares with SpaceX: making humanity a multi-planetary species.
Polaris Dawn inaugurates the Polaris program, which it announced two and a half years ago.
This program must consist of three missions in total. After a second similar to the one which is ending, the third should be the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket, currently in development and intended for trips to the Moon and Mars.
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