Billionaire Jared Isaacman last week became the first tourist to walk in space. Isaacman paid an undisclosed sum to Space X and performed the first-ever commercial space walk on Thursday.
The flight went further into space than any mission since the end of the Apollo Program to the moon fifty years ago.
Isaacman founded his first payment processing company, United Bank Card, in 1999 when he was just 16 years old. His company, Shift4 Payments, is currently worth over USD $7 billion.
Isaacman previously flew with Space X into earth’s orbit in 2021, again the first such private flight of the kind. Seats on the flight were auctioned for a reported USD $50 million.
Jared was accompanied by Scott Poteet and two Space X engineers. Poteet is reported to be Jared’s old friend but is also a former US Air Force lieutenant-colonel and is said to have piloted the craft.
The Space X spaceship is technically unique in that it does not possess an airlock. The entire ship is depressurised when the space walk begins, with its crew manning the instruments from the inside while wearing spacesuits.
The crew is testing the impact of decompression on themselves, as well as the effect of passing through the belt of high radiation beyond the upper atmosphere of Earth.
The two space tourists and the two crew returned safely down to earth on Sunday. “Polaris Dawn we are mission complete. Thanks for all the big help pulling this mission together,” said Isaacman at the close of the mission.
Space X has become fundamental to US space capabilities. It is contracted by NASA to transport cargo and crew to the International Space Station.
Space X also transports classified payloads into orbit on behalf of the US Department of Defence. The company is also reportedly involved in the anti-missile defence system in the United States.
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