(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Jared Isaacman and the history-making Polaris Dawn crew splashed down in a SpaceX capsule off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, at 3:36 a.m. EDT Sunday, capping a groundbreaking mission that included the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
The Crew Dragon craft built by the Elon Musk-led company hurtled through the atmosphere before gliding into the ocean under four parachutes, according to the SpaceX official account on X, formerly Twitter.
The highlight of the mission occurred on Thursday morning, when Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis exited their Crew Dragon spacecraft through an open hatch while wearing SpaceX’s new spacesuits. While outside the draft, the two tested out the mobility of the suits for roughly 15 to 20 minutes each.
Their fellow crew members, SpaceX engineer Anna Menon and Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a former Air Force pilot and a friend of Isaacman’s, remained inside the spacecraft throughout the operation. They also wore the SpaceX suits as the hatch remained open and exposed the interior of the spacecraft to the vacuum of space.
The Polaris Dawn mission also made history on Tuesday when the Dragon capsule reached a peak altitude of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) above Earth, sending the crew farther into space than any humans have traveled since the moon landings. Menon and Gillis now jointly hold the record for the women who have traveled the farthest from the planet.
--With assistance from Hallie Gu.
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