The billionaire tech mogul who became the first private citizen to walk in space returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending the iconic mission .
Jared Isaacman, a friend of SpaceX founder Elon Musk , and his team splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas in the early hours of the morning after a five-day mission in orbit about 460 miles above Earth, which is higher than the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
A peak altitude of 875 miles was reportedly obtained. Isaacman's spacewalk was the 264th overall, but it was the first by a private citizen. Sarah Gillis, of SpaceX, became the 265th person to walk in space. They reportedly reached heights higher than anyone to walk in space since astronauts walked on the Moon.
"We are mission complete, Isaacman radioed as his capsule bobbed in the water as he and his team awaited their recovery. Within an hour, all four of the astronauts were out of the craft, pumping their fists with joy after emerging onto the ship that came to rescue them.
They had lifted off on Tuesday and then touched down early Sunday, becoming the first SpaceX mission to aim for a splashdown near the Dry Tortugas, which is a cluster of islands around 70 miles off the coast of Key West, west of the archipelago. Employees at SpaceX brought a massive green turtle balloon to Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, company headquarters.
It was reportedly the weather that caused the plans to change for the touchdown, as storms and other weather fronts prevented the craft from landing where originally planned near the Florida coast.
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The spacewalk itself occurred on Thursday and lasted for about two hours, which is generally much shorter than those that occur at the ISS. Most of the time was to depressurize the capsule, then restore the cabin's air in the Dragon they flew up in.
While they didn't walk like Isaacman and Gillis outside the capsule, Anna Menon, of SpaceX, and Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot remained strapped in and wore spacesuits. The walk began with Isaacman emerging up to just his waist to test the suit, followed by Gillis, who rose knee high and flexed her arms and legs for a few minutes.
The testing of the spacesuits and the exercise was considered the starting point in tests that could eventually see astronauts sent to Mars. It was reportedly the second commissioned flight with SpaceX for Isaacman, and he has two more ahead with Polaris, which he personally financed.
He reportedly paid an undisclosed sum for his first spaceflight in 2021, taking with him contest winners as well as a pediatric cancer survivor as he raised more than $250 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. During the flight, it was reported that Gillis, a classically trained violinist, performed for the other crew members in space.
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