Two members of SpaceX’s mission ventured into space for the first private spacewalk in history

History. SpaceX’s 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. On a live video feed from the company, the American billionaire emerged first from the capsule in his white and gray spacesuit, holding on to a metal structure installed on the capsule for the occasion.

Two other passengers, pilot Scott Poteet and fellow SpaceX employee Anna Menon, were 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 conducted by professional astronauts, not civilians.