Polaris Dawn crew shares stunning new images from historic space mission

The crew completed the first commercial spacewalk in history.

By Popular Science Team

Published Sep 28, 2024 11:18 AM EDT

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a woman with blonde hair that floats near a window overlooking earth from above — Anna “Walker” Menon in space. Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On September 12, 2024, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn astronauts completed the first commercial spacewalk in history. The historic moment was live-streamed as Commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis each crawled out of the space capsule high above Earth. Now we have new views of the mission in photos shared by the Polaris Program.

earth seen in background, the polaris dawn latter in foreground and sun beams create lens flare effect — “Sun and Skywalker.” Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The four-person crew traveled 875 miles above our planet (the highest orbit reached since NASA’s Apollo program) in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule called “Resilience.” Isaacman and Gillis were joined on the mission by medical officer Anna Menon and mission pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet who remained in the spacecraft for the duration of the spacewalk. The crew spent five days in orbit conducting research and experiments before safely splashing down off the coast of Florida.

(Click to expand images to full size.)

polaris dawn latter seen above a dark earth — “Draco burn and Skywalker.” Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

a woman looks out a window of space capsule, earth seen through window — Sarah “Cooper” Gillis in space. Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

earth is seen very large on ride side with half moon on black sky to the left — “Earth and the Moon from space.” Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

italy, croatia and mediterranean sea seen from space — “Earth from space.” Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

egypt and nile river seen from space — “Earth from space.” Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

a man holds a door on space capsule — Scott “Kidd” Poteet in space. Credit: Polaris Dawn crew, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0