Jewish Billionaire Makes History with Spacewalk Participation

Jewish-American billionaire and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman made history as the first civilian to conduct a private spacewalk, following his splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. Isaacman’s journey, which took him farther from Earth than any human in over 50 years, marks a significant milestone in private space exploration.

Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4, a payment processing company, ventured outside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule during the five-day mission to orbit. His spacewalk, tethered to the capsule, began early Thursday morning and lasted approximately 15 minutes, with Earth gleaming below him. “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman remarked, reflecting on the momentous occasion.

The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, took Isaacman and his three crewmembers—SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, along with former U.S. Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet—nearly 870 miles above Earth’s surface, breaking the record for the highest Earth orbit since NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966. Only astronauts from the Apollo moon missions have traveled further into space.

As part of the Polaris Dawn mission, Isaacman and his crew wore specially designed SpaceX suits, which Isaacman helped develop. These suits were essential in protecting the crew from the vacuum of space during the extravehicular activities (EVA). After Isaacman’s spacewalk, which was streamed live on SpaceX’s website, engineer Sarah Gillis took his place outside the spacecraft. The entire EVA process took about two hours to complete.

This mission builds on Isaacman’s previous achievement in 2021, when he became the first space tourist to orbit Earth without a professional astronaut onboard. The Polaris Dawn mission is part of a series of three private space expeditions Isaacman purchased from SpaceX, further expanding the boundaries of commercial space exploration.

Isaacman and his crew safely splashed down near Florida’s Dry Tortugas at 3:37 a.m. on Sunday, concluding their groundbreaking journey. As the capsule floated in the water, Isaacman proudly radioed, “We are mission complete.”

With this successful mission, Isaacman continues to push the frontiers of space travel, paving the way for civilian involvement in space exploration and showcasing the growing role of private enterprises in advancing space technology.

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