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| Jared Isaacman Speaks Out After SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission |
The Polaris Dawn mission—the first commercial spacewalk in history, and Jared Isaacman is a billionaire!
The SpaceX historic mission finally launched on September 10, following multiple delays. The spacecraft reached an altitude of up to 870 miles (1,400.7 kilometers), a higher orbit than any crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft in history.
Here is Challenger's first non-government spacewalk with the mission commander and member Isaacman (@rburg88), Scott "Kidd" Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon.
After 68 days on its mission, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has returned safely to Earth (9/15).
After returning to Earth, the billionaire took to X (aka Twitter) for an extended post about what it was like up there.
Shift4 founder, the biggest statement was perhaps that of the payment firm Shift4, who said: "We took our spaceship farther than any human has gone since the last Apollo mission more than a half-century ago, and two of our crew crossed the threshold of space, becoming also both women to fly farther away from Earth than any ever prior. But we've been there before, so what gives? Maybe the better question is, Why haven't we returned?"
However, he also noted, "Traveling deep into space is challenging. It takes a lot of gas to send a city down from that height, and if forcibly deorbiting a ship is wanted to get done fast, then getting rid of all the gas again is difficult. The environment—increased radiation, more micrometeoroid debris, and no nearby safe havens if something goes wrong—is harsh.
The 41-year-old explained: "to assess the radiation environment, build up a dataset for its effects on systems and human health, and to push exploration in areas where we do not yet know what solutions could be applied for future missions."
Isaacman concluded by thanking everyone who contributed to the mission, "particularly Elon Musk, SpaceX and the Polaris Program team, NASA and its weather teams, and all of the researchers and sponsors."