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[00:00.04]The four-member crew of a private space flight

[00:04.28]has returned to Earth after a trip

[00:08.16]that included the first-ever spacewalks

[00:12.52]by non-professional astronauts.

[00:15.72]American business leader Jared Isaacman

[00:19.92]organized and paid for the five-day mission,

[00:24.24]called Polaris Dawn.

[00:26.68]The American company SpaceX

[00:29.68]was a partner in the operation.

[00:32.72]It built both the Crew Dragon capsule

[00:37.00]and the Falcon 9 rocket that carried it to space.

[00:42.28]The capsule dropped into the Gulf of Mexico

[00:46.44]near Florida early Sunday as planned.

[00:50.24]The mission is historic for two reasons.

[00:54.36]First, Crew Dragon reached a top altitude

[00:58.88]of more than 1,400 kilometers.

[01:03.00]That was the highest level

[01:05.96]any crewed mission has reached

[01:08.68]since the American space agency NASA's

[01:12.36]Apollo program ended in the early 1970s.

[01:18.00]Second, two crew members

[01:20.56]completed spacewalks during the mission.

[01:23.92]Isaacman was first to pop his head

[01:27.56]out of the Crew Dragon capsule on September 12.

[01:32.36]He spent about 10 minutes

[01:34.88]with the top half of his body

[01:37.28]outside the capsule as the spacecraft

[01:40.68]orbited hundreds of kilometers above Earth.

[01:45.84]A video camera

[01:47.32]captured Isaacman saying at the time,

[01:50.56]"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do.

[01:54.32]But from here,

[01:56.08]Earth sure looks like a perfect world."

[01:59.64]SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis

[02:03.64]took a turn after Isaacman returned.

[02:07.40]During each spacewalk, the astronauts

[02:11.36]kept their feet positioned inside the spacecraft.

[02:14.96]They moved their bodies in several exercises

[02:19.60]to test their spacesuits.

[02:22.64]Until Polaris Dawn,

[02:24.96]only government astronauts

[02:27.32]and cosmonauts in government service

[02:30.60]had completed spacewalks.

[02:33.20]The other Polaris Dawn crewmembers

[02:36.76]were SpaceX engineer Anna Menon,

[02:40.00]and Scott Poteet,

[02:42.00]a retired American Air Force officer.

[02:45.80]They did not leave the spacecraft.

[02:49.08]However, they wore the same kind

[02:51.68]of spacesuits as Isaacman and Gillis.

[02:55.28]They needed the protection

[02:57.72]as the capsule environment

[02:59.56]was depressurized for the space walks.

[03:03.88]Isaacman had said a main goal of the mission

[03:08.08]would be to test the new spacesuit design

[03:11.76]in preparation for long-term stays in space.

[03:16.36]SpaceX has said the suits are equipped

[03:19.88]with the latest data-gathering instruments,

[03:23.36]as well as cameras and improved mobility systems.

[03:28.20]Before the mission launched,

[03:31.00]SpaceX said the crew planned

[03:33.88]to carry out a series of experiments

[03:36.76]aboard the Crew Dragon capsule.

[03:39.48]Among these were a test of laser-based

[03:43.48]satellite communication

[03:45.64]between the spacecraft and Starlink,

[03:49.32]SpaceX's internet satellite system.

[03:53.08]The laser method

[03:54.96]– which has also been tested by NASA

[03:58.36]– is designed to greatly increase

[04:01.64]space communication speeds.

[04:04.68]Many of the experiments

[04:07.36]dealt with observations of

[04:09.60]how human health is affected

[04:12.28]during long space missions.

[04:15.36]Among these will be tests

[04:17.72]with special contact lenses

[04:20.52]containing microelectronics

[04:22.92]that can continuously identify changes

[04:26.80]in eye pressure and shape.

[04:30.04]Isaacman is the head of payment

[04:33.52]processing company Shift4Payments.

[04:37.16]He has an estimated

[04:39.24]personal worth of $2 billion.

[04:42.36]Isaacman has not said publicly

[04:45.88]how much he paid SpaceX for its service.

[04:50.28]Polaris Dawn is the first of

[04:53.80]three planned missions

[04:55.80]under the Polaris program.

[04:58.32]The second will also use a Dragon capsule,

[05:02.40]while the third and final

[05:04.64]is expected to use

[05:06.48]SpaceX's Starship rocket.

[05:09.84]SpaceX chief Elon Musk has said

[05:14.12]his company plans to use Starship

[05:17.72]to carry future space travelers

[05:20.52]to the moon and Mars.

[05:23.24]I'm Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

mission – n. an important project or trip, especially involving space travel

capsule – n. the part of a spacecraft that people live in

altitude – n. the height of something above sea level

mobility – n. the ability to walk and move freely