During this trip to an altitude of 1,400 km, two amateur astronauts briefly ventured outside their ship, carrying out the first private spacewalk in history.
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The first space tourists are back on Earth. Or rather, at sea. The capsule of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission splashed down on Sunday, September 15, off the coast of Florida (United States). According to a SpaceX video broadcast live, the Dragon spacecraft splashed down at 3:37 a.m. local time (9:37 a.m. French time). A team immediately deployed to recover the capsule and the four crew members.
This historic journey of non-professional astronauts lasted five days.The captain, American pilot and billionaire Jared Isaacman, did have some experience, however, as he had already flown into space with Elon Musk’s firm in 2021. The four amateur astronauts, two women and two men, pilots or engineers by training, were also well prepared: before taking off on this mission at an altitude of 1,400 km, they trained for two and a half years.
Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis even briefly ventured outside their ship on Thursday, performing the first private spacewalk in history.