UPDATED 7:02 AM ET Sep. 12, 2024 PUBLISHED 6:05 AM ET Sep. 12, 2024 PUBLISHED 6:05 AM EDT Sep. 12, 2024 SHARE CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Polaris Dawn and SpaceX made history as they conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk on Thursday morning. What You Need To Know It is the first spacewalk for SpaceX's Dragon capsule and its spacesuits All previous spacewalks have been conducted by space agencies like NASA The Polaris Dawn mission is a joint operation with SpaceX — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024 Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and Anna Menon, medical officer and mission specialist, stayed within Dragon during the spacewalk. It took time for all four to prepare for the first-ever commercial spacewalk. All previous spacewalks have been conducted by space agencies like NASA. And this was also the first time a SpaceX Dragon capsule participated in a spacewalk. Before the big event, the Dragon, named Resilience, was depressurized before the hatch opened after 6:50 a.m. ET. All four crewmembers were exposed to the vacuum of space, but it was Isaacman and Gillis who separately went outside of the Dragon as they were tethered to it. It was about a 12-minute spacewalk for each of them. “Once opened, all four crewmembers will be exposed to the vacuum of space. Mission Commander Jared Isaacman (EV1) will exit Dragon, perform a series of mobility tests in the newly-designed SpaceX EVA suit, and return to Dragon’s cabin. Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis (EV2) will perform the same series of actions and, after re-entering Dragon, close the spacecraft’s hatch. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon will monitor vital support systems throughout the operation,” SpaceX stated before the spacewalk. This spacewalk was also the first real test of SpaceX’s spacesuit, also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA). During a press conference before the mission — which the Polaris Dawn mission is a joint operation with SpaceX — Gillis said the EVA suit has greater mobility with a state-of-the-art helmet that comes with a heads-up display and camera. In that same press conference, Menon told Spectrum News that their training gave them a variety of skills to prepare them for the spacewalk and mission. Once the spacewalk was completed, the hatch of the Dragon closed and the capsule slowly repressurized as oxygen and nitrogen levels return to normal. In a separate interview, Poteet explained to Spectrum News about some of the experiments that the Polaris Dawn will be conducting. Polaris Program’s first Polaris Dawn mission and its four-civilian crew have already made a series of firsts: The crew in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on Wednesday orbited above the Earth at 870 miles (1,400 km), breaking the record of the Gemini 11 mission in 1966, which achieved an altitude of 853 miles (1,373 kilometers) above the little round planet. Polaris Dawn orbited the Earth six times during that height. Polaris Dawn and Dragon at 1,400 km above Earth – the farthest humans have traveled since the Apollo program over 50 years ago pic.twitter.com/rRDeD1dY1e