Elon Musk’s post after Polaris Dawn returns from historic spacewalk mission

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has shared a picture of the Polaris Dawn crew after they successfully landed in Florida, following their historic five-day private spacewalk exploration. The tech-billionaire shared the picture on X, in which the crew could be seen in spacesuits, smiling and waving after exiting a helicopter.
“Polaris crew is home safe & sound,” Musk tweeted.
The Polaris Dawn mission concluded on September 15 with the crew’s successful splashdown off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida shortly after 03.37 local time (approximately 1.06 pm IST). The mission saw the crew spend five days in orbit and featured multiple milestones, including the highest altitude ever reached by a crewed spacecraft since 1972. It also featured the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
The touchdown of the crew was streamed live by SpaceX.
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth,” SpaceX posted on X.
NASA said that the mission represented a “giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry.
Launched on September 10 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, Polaris Dawn soared to a remarkable altitude of 870 miles (over 1,400 kilometres), exceeding previous records.
The crew comprised civilians, and was bankrolled and led by billionaire-philanthropist Jared Isaacman. They travelled further into space than any human for over 50 years. The team also consisted of Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, a retired US Air Force pilot, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
During their five-day mission, the crew conducted around 40 scientific experiments in microgravity, with a focus on human health and safety in space.
One of the Polaris Dawn mission’s highlights was the historic spacewalk, which saw Isaacman and Gillis testing SpaceX’s new spacesuits and assessing their mobility and functionality. The two-hour extravehicular activity (EVA) paved the way for future commercial spacewalks and offered important data on the challenges of performing tasks outside a spacecraft.