Billionaire Does First Privately-Funded Spacewalk
A tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk, hundreds of kilometers above Earth, on September 12.
Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman teamed up with Elon Musk's SpaceX to test the company's brand new spacesuits on his chartered flight.
Until now, only professional astronauts working for government agencies had done spacewalks.
They're high-risk endeavors, although there isn't always much walking involved. Astronauts at the International Space Station often need to move across the massive structure for repairs, always traveling in pairs and carrying gear. Station spacewalks can last seven to eight hours.
But Isaacman's spacewalk was simple and quick. He kept a hand or foot attached to the capsule the whole time as he moved his arms and legs. He was outside for about 10 minutes.
"Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world," the 41-year-old Isaacman said from space.
SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis also went out into space once Isaacman was back inside.
The two other passengers, Scott Poteet, a former US Air Force pilot, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon stayed strapped to their seats inside. All four crew members wore SpaceX's new spacesuits to protect themselves as the entire capsule was exposed to the vacuum of space when the hatch was opened.
The spacewalk was the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Isaacman and SpaceX company, and the culmination of years of development aimed at settling Mars and other planets.
The operation was planned carefully — it had to be. Trying out new spacesuits from a spacecraft new to spacewalking added to the risk.
They launched on September 10 from Florida and the spacewalk took place 740 kilometers from Earth, higher than any previous walk.
Isaacman, who is the CEO and founder of the Shift4 credit card-processing company, hasn't said how much he spent on the flight.
It won't have been cheap, but some observers are glad that private individuals are financing space travel, meaning governments send less public money into orbit.
