The first civilians ever to walk in space are back on Earth, landing Sunday in their Dragon capsule from private space company SpaceX off the coast of the United States.
There were four people in total in the Dragon capsule of Elon Musk’s space company. Two of them, billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, briefly (partially) left their spacecraft. After the capsule door was opened, they emerged with about half of their bodies. So it wasn’t exactly a walk where they separated from their craft, but it is still called a spacewalk.
The two went through extensive training for their walk. So they were not unprepared. However, they are not professional astronauts.
The trip was paid for by Isaacman, making it the first commercial spacewalk ever. Previous spacewalks were always paid for with public funds, i.e. tax money.
Isaacman has been to space before
The foursome spent a few days in space. In addition to the spacewalk, scientific experiments were conducted during the trip. Isaacman also boarded a SpaceX spacecraft in 2021. That was the first commercial space flight ever.
Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth, @rookisaacman, @kiddpoteet, @Gillis_SarahE, @annawmenon pic.twitter.com/nILpMQh2sR
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 15, 2024
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Source: www.bright.nl
