Tech billionaire returns to Earth after spacewalk

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Jared Isaacman becomes 1st private spacewalker

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, September 15: Jared Isaacman etched his name in the annals of history for completing the first private spacewalk. He and three of his companions safely returned after their five days long space odyssey.

“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth,” posted SpaceX on X, formerly Twitter. Two SpaceX engineers – Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon – also safely landed off Florida.

The SpaceX astronaut Kidd Poteet successfully completed the first private spacewalk. “Dragon’s four main parachutes have deployed,” updated SpaceX, while live-streaming the splashdown of Dragon.

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The SpaceX feat to successfully undertake the first spacewalk is a giant stride of the humankind in the exploration of the space. Isaacman is a tech billionaire.

The Associated Press reported that SpaceX’s capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness. The tech billionaire had gone for the space walk on Tuesday.

The SpaceX had chosen multiple landing options. It faced hostile weather conditions before the return of the capsule. They achieved the feat of orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kms) above Earth.

They went higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope, reported the AP. It added that the SpaceX’s first private spacewalk hit a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kms).

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The successful spacewalk mission also gives a major fillip to space tourism. Earlier, only professional astronauts had gone into the space.

“The crew’s final full day on-orbit was dedicated to furthering and finalizing the scientific goals of the Polaris Dawn mission, connecting with one of their training teams, and catching-up with the SpaceX family,” SpaceX in an update shared earlier.

It also mentioned that “two of the day’s scientific highlights focused on preventative and life-saving studies – from identifying and understanding the risk of kidney stone formation while living in microgravity to developing and validating CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) procedures aboard the Dragon spacecraft”.

With the mission, SpaceX also showcased its leadership in the space communication. “Throughout the day, the crew continued to test Starlink, including a 40+ minute, uninterrupted video call with SpaceX teams back on Earth, which took place as Dragon orbited across the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope,” added the update from the SpaceX.

Isaacman is the 264th person who went for a spacewalk. The first human spacewalk mission is inked for the former Soviet Union in 1965.

“The crew also connected with members of the Air Force who helped train them for a week of solo skydiving at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. Before settling in for their last sleep period of the mission, the crew took some time to connect with their families and began preparing Dragon’s cabin for re-entry and splashdown,” added SpaceX.

Dragon and the crew returned to Earth with splash down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida on Sunday, September 15 at 3:36 a.m (the US time).

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