Skywalker

Up before dawn this morning for the Polaris Dawn space walk, the first commercial space walk and the furthest from Earth since the Apollo program over half a century ago. After stalling for so long, human space flight is again advancing.

Polaris Dawn’s Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon had already broken the 1966 Gemini XI altitude record for Earth-orbital missions (excluding Apollo cis-lunar missions). This morning, the crew vented the SpaceX Dragon Resilience‘s cabin, exposing all four of them to the vacuum of space, realizing the first four-person spacewalk, and eclipsing the 1992 STS-49 mission, which included history’s only three-person spacewalk.

At orbital sunset and near orbital apogee, Isaacman then floated outside to the Dragon’s skywalker mobility aid. For about 12 minutes, he tested the new SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) space suit in a carefully practiced choreography. Gillis followed next during orbital night and repeated the same tests, becoming the youngest person to perform a spacewalk, younger even than the very first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov. Later today, in yet another milestone, the crew transmitted images via high-bandwidth laser light beams to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.

Excitedly and inspirationally, Gillis and Menon are the first SpaceX engineers to fly in space. They have been intimately involved in human spaceflight development and training and will soon return to Earth to leverage their experience and help accelerate SpaceX’s progress toward making life and consciousness interplanetary.

Commander Jared Isaacman tests the new SpaceX EVA suit at orbital sunset near apogee. All four astronauts participated in the spacewalk by being exposed to the vacuum of space.

From left to right, the Polaris Dawn crew is Sarah Gillis, Kidd Poteet, Jared Isaacman, and Anna Menon. Gillis and Menon are the first SpaceX engineers to fly in space