On Thursday, SpaceX redefined space travel with its first-ever commercial spacewalk. SpaceX sent two private astronauts, a SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis and tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, in its SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. With the successful execution of this mission, it is evident that space travel is no longer exclusive to professional astronauts working at NASA or any other governmental space agencies.
Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, cheered the mission’s success. He stated, ‘Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and NASA’s long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy.’
About The spacewalk
The spacewalk officially commenced around 6:12 a.m. (EST), with oxygen flowing into the astronauts’ suits. The operation was conducted nearly three hours behind schedule but executed flawlessly. Since the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lacked an airlock, the method used by the astronauts of NASA and the Soviets in 1960 was again used by these astronauts for spacewalks.
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Mr. Isaacman first opened the top hatch with a hand crank and exited for spacesuit mobility tests. Although his time in space was brief, Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, conducted similar tests outside the capsule. Meanwhile, inside the capsule, Scott Poteet and Anna Menon were also in spacesuits, marking the first instance of four astronauts being exposed to space’s vacuum simultaneously.
