SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission Completes First Private Spacewalk, Returns Safely to Earth

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The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which included the first-ever commercial spacewalk, concluded with the Dragon spacecraft successfully splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida. The spacecraft, carrying four crew members, landed at 3:37am (07:37 GMT) on Sunday. A recovery team retrieved the capsule and lifted it onto a recovery vessel within 30 minutes.

After brief medical checks, all crew members were confirmed to be in good health.

Launched on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center, the Polaris Dawn mission reached an altitude of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles), traveling deeper into space than any human mission in the past 50 years. This altitude was more than three times higher than the International Space Station and the furthest humans had traveled from Earth since NASA's Apollo missions.

On Thursday, Isaacman performed the first commercial spacewalk, followed by Gillis, who tested a new spacesuit designed for protection in space. Poteet and Menon remained inside the Dragon capsule, participating in tasks and supporting the spacewalk.

The crew conducted several experiments, including inter-satellite laser communication with SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation. One experiment involved Gillis playing "Rey's Theme" from Star Wars on the violin, with high-resolution footage transmitted back to Earth.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned missions under the Polaris Program, a collaboration between Isaacman and SpaceX.