Polaris Dawn Crew Becomes First Private Astronaut to Perform Extra-Spacecraft Activities



SpaceX made world history when the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission became the first private astronauts to successfully perform an extravehicular activity (EVA). The three-day mission was launched using a Falcon 9 rocket and a modified Crew Dragon space capsule. The capsule named Resilience is the same one used on the Inspiration4 mission that sent the world's first four private crews into space in 2021.



Jared Isaacman was the first private astronaut to do an EVA and he also now holds the status of the first billionaire to actually go into space. He provided funding for the Polaris Dawn and Inspiration4 missions.


In addition to being the first private mission to perform an EVA, Polaris Dawn is the mission that set the record for the farthest orbit from the Earth's surface at an altitude of 1400.7 km. This also bypassed the Gemini 11 mission record of 1373 km recorded in 1966.



In addition to Jared Isaacman, another crew member, Sarah Gillis, also performed EVA. During the nearly two-hour EVA mission, tests were carried out on the astronaut's suit to see its level of mobility and durability when closest to space. This astronaut suit will be the suit used by SpaceX astronauts to carry out missions to the surface of the moon and Mars in the future. The Polaris Dawn crew will return to earth in three days.

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