Elon Musk’s SpaceX blasted off in Florida on Tuesday on a mission scheduled to culminate in the first private spacewalk in history.
Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman plans to venture way beyond the International Space Station and further into space than anyone since the Apollo moon missions.
The American billionaire founder of the Shift4 electronic payment firm is one of four astronauts on the privately funded Polaris Dawn mission. The other civilians include two SpaceX employees and a retired military fighter pilot.
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida went ahead on Tuesday after delays over poor weather and technical checks. It will be in orbit for about five days and travel about 870 miles from the Earth’s surface.
Writing about the mission, Musk said it carried “more risk than usual.”
In a post on his X account last month, he wrote: “Crew safety is absolutely paramount and this mission carries more risk than usual as it will be the furthest humans have traveled from Earth since Apollo, and the first commercial spacewalk.”
Up until now, the only spacewalks have been government-funded and most have been either at the International Space Station of China’s Tiangong space station.
According to the Guardian, two astronauts—Isaacman, 41, and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis, 30—will leave the spacecraft connected by an oxygen line.
Isaacman shared the mission’s cost with SpaceX, says the New York Post, and will be testing new spacesuits specially designed for deep space. Both Isaacman and Gillis will keep hold of the capsule while “popping” out of the hatch.
Launch Director Frank Messina radioed after the crew reached orbit. “We’re sending you hugs from the ground. May you make history and come home safely,” he said.
“We wouldn’t be on this journey without all 14,000 of you back at SpaceX and everyone else cheering us on,” Isaacman replied.
