SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts complete first private spacewalk (video)

Polaris Dawn has just made history again.

SpaceX's private four-person astronaut crew conducted the world's first commercial spacewalk high above Earth on Thursday (Sept. 12) during the third day of a five-day journey into Earth orbit.

“SpaceX, we still have a lot of work to do at home, but from here it looks like a perfect world,” said Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman, the American billionaire who funded the mission, as he looked down at Earth, standing mostly outside the Dragon hatch.

SpaceX launched the four astronauts – Isaacman, pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon (both of SpaceX) – into orbit on Tuesday (Sept. 10) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket lifted off from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the same launch pad that launched Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the moon.

Fifteen hours later, the crew made space history for the first time when they reached an altitude of 875 miles (1,400.7 kilometers) – higher than any manned mission since the Apollo program half a century ago. Another NASA mission, Gemini 11, previously held the altitude record for a manned spacecraft in Earth orbit at 855 miles (1,373 kilometers).

But Polaris Dawn did not stop here.