SpaceX’s private astronaut mission returns home safely

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated17/09/2024

A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has travelled since NASA’s moonwalkers.

On Sunday, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew completed a five-day space mission, achieving several groundbreaking milestones, including the first private spacewalk and traveling higher than any other crew since NASA's moon missions.
Their mission aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule ended with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas.

Isaacman, along with SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force pilot, orbited 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, surpassing the altitudes of the International Space Station (ISS) and the Hubble Space Telescope.
The spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers), following their liftoff on Tuesday.
Isaacman became the 264th person to perform a spacewalk, while SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis became the 265th, marking the first time non-professional astronauts had conducted such a feat.
During the spacewalk, Isaacman and Gillis briefly exited the capsule to test SpaceX's new spacesuit technology, essential for future missions to Mars.

The capsule’s splashdown marked the first time SpaceX targeted the area near the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, due to poor weather near their usual recovery zones closer to Florida’s coast.
The crew celebrated their successful mission, emerging from the capsule and pumping their fists with joy after the recovery team secured their safe return.

This mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, is part of Isaacman’s Polaris Program, a space exploration initiative named after the North Star. Isaacman previously funded a 2021 SpaceX flight and has two more planned missions, including future tests of spacesuit technology for extended deep-space travel.
Although the total cost of the mission remains undisclosed, it was partially financed by Isaacman, who continues to lead the charge in commercial space exploration.
SpaceX envisions this mission as a starting point for more ambitious ventures, including Mars expeditions, with technology tested in this brief but historic spacewalk.