The Polaris Dawn crew, consisting of Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon, safely returned to Earth early Sunday morning, concluding the historic privately funded mission. The Dragon capsule carrying the astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at around 3:30AM ET. During the mission, Isaacman and Gillis made history by completing the first commercial spacewalk and conducting a series of spacesuit mobility tests. Gillis and Menon also set a new record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by women. Polaris reached a peak altitude of approximately 870 miles, surpassing the distance traveled by humans since the Apollo program. The crew conducted various science experiments, successfully completed a 40-minute video call to Earth, and tested Starlink’s space communications capabilities. One highlight was a video of Gillis playing the violin in space. Polaris highlighted the significance of this mission, stating that it marks the beginning of a new era in commercial spaceflight.
