Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman performs first private spacewalk

Technology billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first civilian to undertake a spacewalk early Thursday, despite having already traveled the farthest distance from Earth that a human has traveled since the Apollo moon missions.

Footage of the daring stunt shows Isaacman, 41, jumping on a rope from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule as he is confronted with the darkness of space shortly before 7 a.m.

“We all still have a lot of work to do at home, but from here, Earth really does look like a perfect world,” Isaacman said shortly after he stepped out of the spacecraft and the planet glittered below him.

After about 15 minutes outdoors, Isaacman was replaced by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, who performed the same steps. She was to be followed by two other crew members: engineer Anna Menon and former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet.

Their maneuvers were streamed live on the SpaceX website.

The spacewalk should last about 30 minutes, but the procedures to prepare for it and to safely complete it are expected to take about two hours.

Before Isaacman and his three crew members opened the hatch and emerged from the capsule, they were observed waiting inside until the capsule was completely depressurized.

This comes after SpaceX suddenly delayed the scheduled spacewalk launch by a few hours. There was no immediate explanation for the delay, but the company said via X that “all systems look good.”

Isaacman and his three crew members began preparing for the mission shortly after being launched into orbit on Tuesday for a five-day flight.

Thanks to the new SpaceX suits he helped develop, they were safe during the two-hour mission.

Officials had said Isaacman, the billionaire founder of credit card company Shift4, would remain tethered and hold on to the aircraft with at least one hand or foot to ensure his safety.

A longer, unsecured spacewalk was not possible because currently only NASA’s suits are equipped with jetpacks that can bring an astronaut to safety.

Since the Crew Dragon does not have a pressure lock, all crew members had to wear the new spacesuits to protect them from the vacuum conditions during the mission.

Isaacman was accompanied on the mission by SpaceX engineers Sarah Gills and Anna Menon, as well as former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet.

Gills was supposed to accompany Isaacman on the spacewalk, which had previously been reserved exclusively for professional astronauts.

The spacewalk took place after Isaacman and the crew reached a distance of nearly 870 miles above Earth, well beyond the International Space Station and surpassing the record for circling the Earth set in 1966 during NASA’s Project Gemini.

Only the 24 astronauts of the Apollo mission who flew to the moon ventured further into space.

While the trip would normally be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it is only the first of three trips Isaacman has purchased from Elon Musk in 2022.

Isaacman, who has not publicly disclosed the cost of his SpaceX trips, was among the first group of tourists to fly into space in 2021.

During this trip, Isaacman set a record by becoming the first space tourist to orbit the Earth without a professional astronaut on board.