Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is scheduled to head into space for the second time later this week. The itinerary for the trip includes the first ever spacewalk by private astronauts. The mission will travel farther than anyone has traveled since the Apollo 17 mission went to the Moon in 1972. It will pass through regions of intense radiation while testing new technologies and gathering data on the effects space has on the human body.
- SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission delayed due to a helium leak, postponing the first civilian spacewalk.
SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission has been delayed until later this week at the earliest due to a helium leak. The mission will send four private citizens (billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Meno) to space on a mission that will include the first spacewalk carried out by a civilian crew. It was scheduled to lift off early Tuesday. Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned space flights funded and organized by Isaacman and SpaceX.
The private-citizen astronauts traveling with SpaceX have completed the first-ever commercial spacewalk. The spacewalk kicked off shortly after 6 am ET on Thursday. The livestream showed tech industry billionaire Jared Isaacman leaving the SpaceX Crew Dragon and conducting a series of mobility tests before coming back after around an hour. The entire spacecraft was exposed to the vacuum of space during the spacewalk. The crew members were wearing SpaceX-designed and manufactured suits that were previously untested in orbit. A clip from the livestream is available in the article.