SpaceX capsule splashes down after history-making Polaris Dawn mission
A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens splashed down off Florida at 3:36 a.m. ET Sunday, ending a historic mission that included the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk.
A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens splashed down off Florida at 3:36 a.m. ET Sunday, ending a historic mission that included the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon returned to Earth in a Crew Dragon capsule, splashing down off Dry Tortugas, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico.
Polaris Dawn crew members performing their first private spacewalk. SpaceX via X“Polaris Dawn, we are mission complete,” operators announced over the crackle of a radio as recovery vessels made their way to the capsule bobbing in the nighttime sea.
A video n X captured the passengers emerging jubilant from the capsule, cheering, waving and hugging staff members as they touched solid ground for the first time in five days.
The Polaris Dawn flight was the fifth private mission for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. It was also the company’s most ambitious expedition, as the crew members and their spacecraft executed several risky maneuvers.
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