Civilians venture into space for the first time: Two members of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission exit their ship

Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis ventured outside their spacecraft on Thursday, September 12, 700 kilometers from Earth. The goal was to test SpaceX's first-ever spacesuits.

SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis briefly ventured outside their spacecraft on Thursday, September 12, in the first private spacewalk in history.

In a live video feed from the company, the American billionaire emerged first from the capsule in his white and gray spacesuit, holding onto a metal structure installed on the capsule for the occasion.

A new step in space exploration

“It's magnificent”, he said, while he was about 700 km above the ground, much higher than the International Space Station. Sarah Gillis then took over, and also made moves to test SpaceX's brand new suits, the first intended for spacewalks, one of the mission's main objectives.

She then returned to the interior of the ship in turn to prepare to close the hatch. Two other passengers, pilot Scott Poteet and fellow SpaceX employee Anna Menon, are also aboard the Dragon capsule, and are also exposed to the vacuum of space, supplied with oxygen via cords on their suits.

Polaris Dawn, funded by SpaceX and Jared Isaacman, marks a new milestone in commercial space exploration. All spacewalks so far have been carried out by professional astronauts, not civilians.