Record-breaking Polaris Dawn crew splashes down safely in Gulf of Mexico

After setting an altitude record and conducting the first nongovernmental spacewalk, billionaire Jared Isaacman and his three crewmates returned to Earth early Sunday, plunging back into the atmosphere aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft for a targeted splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

With Isaacman and pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet monitoring cockpit screens, flanked by SpaceX medical officer Anna Menon and crew trainer Sarah Gillis, the spacecraft slammed into the discernible atmosphere and decelerated in a fireball of atmospheric friction, protected by a SpaceX-designed heat shield.

Minutes later, the spacecraft’s parachutes deployed and the Crew Dragon settled in for a gentle splashdown at 15 mph at 3:36 a.m. EDT near the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles from Key West, Florida.

Spectacular, if ghostly, infrared images of the spacecraft as it re-entered the atmosphere were captured by a NASA photo reconnaissance aircraft and then by an infrared camera on a SpaceX recovery craft. Even the crew of the International Space Station got a chance to witness the spacecraft’s lightning-fast re-entry.

“We got a pretty clear view of the Polaris Dawn entry,” astronaut Mike Barratt told flight controllers in Houston. “We were all pretty much crammed into the (multi-window) cupola to watch it. It was pretty spectacular for us.”

SpaceX’s recovery ship arrived on scene about a half-hour later to hoist the capsule onto the deck, where support personnel stood ready to help the crew members exit the spacecraft. All four emerged from orbit under their own power after five days in weightlessness, visibly elated and smiling broadly as they waved to the recovery team.

After routine post-landing medical checks, Isaacman and his crewmates were to be flown back to land by helicopter and then returned to Kennedy Space Center to reunite with family and friends.

The Polaris Dawn mission, funded by Isaacman, in cooperation with SpaceX, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket early Tuesday. Upon launch, the crew set a new altitude record for a manned spacecraft in Earth orbit, reaching a high point, or apogee, of 875 miles.

It is the furthest distance from Earth that anyone has traveled since the last Apollo trip to the Moon in 1972.

On Thursday morning, the crew set another record when Isaacman and Gillis took turns floating just outside the capsule’s hatch. the first non-governmental spacewalk never conducted.

“Back home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth really does look like a perfect world,” Isaacman marveled, taking in a spectacular view of the borderless planet below as he floated through the Crew Dragon’s hatch.

The goal of the brief excursions was to test SpaceX’s pressure suits in the harsh environment of space, assessing their mobility and checking the movement of the wrist, elbow and shoulder joints to help engineers design improved versions for future flights to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

In addition to a comprehensive suite of biomedical research, the crew also tested laser communications technology that connects the Crew Dragon to the Starlink constellation of commercial internet relay satellites.

“Early this morning, via @Starlink space lasers, the Polaris Dawn crew chatted with SpaceX teams over coffee and donuts,” SpaceX said. published Saturday X. “During the 40-minute-plus uninterrupted video call, Dragon completed a half-orbit over the U.S. East Coast, cutting southeast over the Atlantic Ocean and rounding the Cape of Good Hope.”

Earlier in the mission, Gillis, an accomplished violist, participated in what amounted to an international concert, performing “Star Wars” composer John Williams’ “Rey’s Theme” with young musicians in the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Sweden and Uganda.

The Polaris Dawn mission is the first of three planned by Isaacman, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, in cooperation with Musk.

The second flight will be another Crew Dragon mission while the third will be the first piloted flight of SpaceX’s massive Super Heavy-Starship rocket, currently under development in Texas.

It’s unclear how much Isaacman is paying for the flights or how much SpaceX itself has funded.

Polaris Dawn is SpaceX’s fifth commercial Crew Dragon flight to orbit and its 14th, including NASA missions carrying crew members to the International Space Station. The California-based rocket maker has now launched 54 men and women into orbit since human spaceflight began in May 2020.