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Spacewalk
A billionaire kicked off the first private spacewalk Thursday, teaming up with SpaceX on the daring endeavour hundreds of miles above Earth. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew waited until their capsule was depressurised before popping open the hatch. Isaacman was to be the first one out, aiming to join a small elite group of spacewalkers who until now had represented countries. All four on board donned SpaceX's new spacewalking suits to protect themselves from the harsh vacuum. They launched on Tuesday from Florida, rocketing farther from Earth than anyone since NASA's moonwalkers. The orbit was reduced by half to 458 miles (737 kilometres) for the spacewalk. It was the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Isaacman and Elon Musk's company, and the culmination of years of development geared toward settling Mars and other planets. This first spacewalking test, expected to last about two hours, involved more stretching than walking. The plan called for Isaacman
First came space tourism. Now comes an even bigger thrill for the monied masses: spacewalking. The stage is set for the first private spacewalk Thursday. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman will pop out of the hatch of his orbiting SpaceX capsule, two days after blasting off from Florida on a chartered flight that lifted him and his crew higher than anyone since NASA's moonwalkers. He partnered with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to buy a series of rocket rides and help develop brand new spacesuits. SpaceX is the first private company to attempt a spacewalk, until now the domain of just 12 countries. There's a reason why it's such a niche and elite group: Spacewalking is considered the most dangerous part of any flight after launch and reentry, and demands extensive training. Spacewalks are a whole different entire ballgame than just strapping into a rocket and riding it, getting some zero-g time and coming back, said retired NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. Cassidy knows firsthand about the danger
UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi has become the first Arab to undertake a spacewalk during Expedition 69 venturing out of the International Space Station (ISS) and completing his spacewalk. The historic spacewalk lasted 7.01 hours in the vacuum of space on the starboard side of the ISS's truss structure, accomplishing two key objectives. One of the objectives of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA), undertaken by Al-Neyadi along with NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen, was to work on a series of preparatory tasks which involved routing power cables, which was successfully concluded. These cable works were completed as a precursor to the installation of the Space Station's fourth roll-out solar array, known as the International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA), which is scheduled to be delivered on the upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo mission. The next objective was to retrieve a crucial Radio Frequency Group (RFG) unit. This communications antenna, or RFG will stay bolted on the .