Billionaire Jared Isaacman and crew complete historic spacewalk: 'Looks like a perfect world'

For the first time ever, a crew of private spacefarers have pulled off a daring orbital maneuver that until now had been left up to only government astronauts .

In the predawn hours Thursday, the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission suited up in specially designed SpaceX gear to prepare for the vacuum of space 435 miles above Earth. When billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis exited their SpaceX Dragon capsule, they became the first commercial astronauts to do so.

Because the Dragon has no airlock, the other two members of the crew, Anna Menon and Scott “Kidd” Poteet , also were exposed to the conditions of space despite remaining in the vehicle.

The pioneering private spacewalk came on the third day of the five-day Polaris Dawn mission , which Isaacman is commanding and funding along with SpaceX. The first of three missions under the Polaris Program , the venture is intended to test technology that could one day make SpaceX founder Elon Musk's vision of crewed trips to Mars a reality.

When the mission launched Tuesday, the SpaceX Dragon capsule bearing the astronauts traveled further into space than any spacecraft has gone in more than 50 years since NASA's Apollo era. The craft also surpassed the height reached by NASA's Gemini 11 in the 1960s, SpaceX said .

“This incredible milestone is all thanks to the hard work of the crew and many SpaceX teams, all focused on a goal of making life multiplanetary,” Stu Keech, vice president of Dragon at SpaceX, said in a statement about the spacewalk.

Rewatch Polaris Dawn launch: Video shows SpaceX rocket launch 4-member crew for daring commercial mission

Two exit SpaceX Dragon for commercial spacewalk

Preparations for the spacewalk began after the astronauts reached orbit Tuesday .

Shortly after liftoff, the Dragon's pressure began to slowly lower while oxygen levels inside the cabin increased, helping purge nitrogen from the crew members' bloodstreams. The protocol was to prepare the astronauts for the spacewalk and lower the risk of decompression sickness, SpaceX said .

After the spacecraft reached a maximum altitude of about 870 miles, the Dragon was to descend to a cruising orbit about 435 miles above Earth for the spacewalk itself.

When it came time for the maneuver around 6 a.m. Thursday, Isaacman was the first to venture out of the Dragon. As he emerged from the forward hatch, the adventurer and experienced pilot soaked in the stunning view.

"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said as SpaceX ground crews in Hawthorne, California could be heard on the livestream bursting into applause.

Gillis followed him shortly afterward, climbing out the “Skywalker” ladder at the top of the capsule to catch her first glimpse of the expanse of space. Gillis, an engineer who oversees astronaut training at SpaceX, would gain invaluable experience to train future astronauts, SpaceX officials have said.

Gillis was able to reenter the vehicle and securely latch and close the hatch so the crew could begin repressurizing the cabin .

Spacewalk timeline

Here's a look at how the Polaris Dawn spacewalk unfolded early Thursday:

1:35 a.m. SpaceX announces the spacewalk was delayed from its initial start time at around 2 a.m. and will begin at 5:58 a.m. EDT. A reason for the delay was not given.

5:14 a.m. Crew members climb into their spacesuits to prepare for cabin pressure to lower to that of the vacuum of space. While Isaacman and Gillis test the mobility of the spacesuits outside the capsule, Poteet and Menon remain strapped in their seats monitoring vital support systems.

5:25 a.m. The crew performs communication checks.

5:55 a.m. The crew is ready for seat rotation. The seats will be rotated so the crew has more room to move.

6:00 a.m. The SpaceX suits come complete with a heads-up display, which displays data in the crew members' visors. It shows data such as oxygen and temperature. They have about one hour and 50 minutes to complete the spacewalk. There are now live views from the spacecraft. The crew will have helmet cams, giving people on Earth live views of what the crew is seeing.

6:09 a.m. SpaceX gives the go for the spacewalk. The crew's spacesuits pressurize.

6:12 a.m. The spacewalk begins.

6:22 a.m. The crew finishes final pre-breath operations, a process to avoid decompression sickness.

6:30 a.m. The cabin is vented, which brings Dragon to vacuum. According to SpaceX, it will take eight minutes to match the vacuum of space. For the first time in history, all four crew members will technically be on a spacewalk.

6:50 a.m. Isaacman opens the hatch to venture outside.

7:00 a.m. Isaacman moves back inside to make way for Gillis to exit using the Skywalker.

7:04 a.m. Gillis observes that part of the seal on the hatch popped out, but it can simply be popped in, according to SpaceX.

7:06 a.m. Sarah Gillis is outside testing the spacesuit. SpaceX employees erupt into cheers to see one of their own preform a spacewalk.

7:14 a.m. Gillis was heard saying the seal has bulges again. She pops it back in place and prepares to close the hatch.

7:16 a.m. The Dragon hatch is now closed and sealed so the spacecraft can be pressurized. The process takes about an hour, SpaceX says.

7:30 a.m. Oxygen is added into the cabin. Nitrox (oxygen and nitrogen mixture) will be added to the suits to take the crew out of the suits' pure oxygen environment.

7:40 a.m. The cabin continues to pressurize, and no leaks have been found. The process is slow − as in scuba diving, there must be safety stops when changing to a different pressure so the body is not overexerted.

7:55 a.m. The Dragon has returned to normal pressure, what the astronauts are accustomed to on Earth. That means the crew can now get out of their EVA suits, officially ending the spacewalk.

All 4 Polaris Dawn astronauts exposed to the vacuum of space

Until now, spacewalks have come only under the purview of government spacefarers such as NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. What's more, the maneuvers most often take place in craft with airlocks.

But because the Dragon does not have an airlock, the entire spacecraft had to be depressurized when the hatch was opened, exposing the entire crew to the vacuum of space. For that reason, even mission specialist Menon and pilot Poteet needed to wear EVA suits designed by SpaceX to receive oxygen through tethers.

Not only have spacewalks historically not been commercial endeavors, but those who have taken part have done so in spacesuits regulated by a government space agency.

This time it is all being done by SpaceX. Gillis and Issacman each spent about 10 minutes outside of the Dragon moving around to test the suit's capabilities , which the rocket company developed for this flight .

Aside from providing a launch site at its Kennedy Space Center, NASA is not part of the Polaris Dawn mission. But after the historic spacewalk, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson took to X to congratulate SpaceX and the crew.

"Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and NASA's long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy," Nelson said.

What is the Polaris Dawn mission?

Polaris Dawn is the first of three human spaceflights under the Polaris Program, all of which are intended to test SpaceX technologies needed to carry humans deep into the cosmos .

Isaacman, founder of internet company Shift4 Payment, is the only member of the Polaris Dawn crew to have been to outer space before. Menon and Gillis are also now not only the the first SpaceX employees to travel to space but have traveled higher than any other women in history.

The crew has already been testing a new laser-based satellite communication system using Starlink.

Before and after the spacewalk, the crew is also conducting nearly 40 scientific experiments – many of which aim to understand the human body's reaction to long spaceflights as NASA and other space agencies set their sights on destinations like Mars .

The SpaceX Dragon will return the Polaris Dawn astronauts to Earth on Sunday, splashing down off the Florida coast.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Billionaire Jared Isaacman and crew complete historic spacewalk: 'Looks like a perfect world'