SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission capsule returns to Earth

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission capsule, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, splashed down off the coast of Florida early Sunday,

The Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at 3:37 a.m. local time (0737 GMT/UTC), a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying to retrieve the capsule and four crew members.

"We are mission complete," Isaacman radioed as the capsule bobbed in the water in anticipation of the recovery team.

The spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers), taking the crew to the farthest point humans have ever traveled from Earth since the Apollo missions to the Moon.

First spacewalk by non-government astronauts

During a five-day journey, the crew conducted the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 740 kilometers (460 miles) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Isaacman became just the 264th person to complete a spacewalk, and SpaceX's Sarah Gillis became the 265th. Until now, all spacewalks have been performed by professional astronauts.

During Thursday's commercial spacewalk, the Dragon capsule's hatch was open for just under half an hour. Isaacman emerged in space only to his waist to briefly test SpaceX's brand-new spacesuit, followed by Gillis, who was knee-high as she bent her arms and legs for several minutes.

The spacewalk lasted less than two hours, significantly shorter than spacewalks on the International Space Station. Most of that time was spent depressurizing the entire capsule and then re-pressurizing the cabin. Even SpaceX engineer Anna Menon and mission pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, who remained strapped in, wore spacesuits.

What is the Polaris Program?

This was the 41-year-old Isaacman's second charter flight with SpaceX, with two more to come under his personally-funded space exploration program called Polaris, after the North Star.

Polaris Dawn was the first of three missions under the program. The founder and CEO of credit card processing company Shift4 split the cost with SpaceX. Isaacman won't reveal how much he spent.

Financial terms of the partnership remain under wraps, but Isaacman reportedly put $200 million of his own money into leading SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration4 orbital mission in 2021.

The final Polaris mission aims to be the first crewed flight of SpaceX's Starship, a prototype next-generation rocket that is key to Musk's interplanetary ambitions.

dh/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)