SpaceX crew return to Earth

NEW YORK, Sept 15 (BBC): SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew has returned to Earth after five days in orbit, following a historic mission featuring the world's first commercial spacewalk.

The Dragon capsule made splashdown off the coast of Florida shortly after 03:37 local time (07:37 GMT), in an event stream lived by SpaceX.

"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth," SpaceX said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The US space agency Nasa said the mission represented "a giant leap forward" for the commercial space industry.

Re-entering earth's atmosphere, the spacecraft neared temperatures of 1,900C (3,500 degrees Fahrenheit), caused by the intense pressure and friction of pushing through the air at around 7,000mph (27,000kph).

The four-member civilian team, bankrolled and led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, travelled further into space than any humans for more than fifty years.

Scott Poteet, a retired US Air Force pilot, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon were also on the crew.

Mr Isaacman and Ms Gillis are the first non-professional crew to perform a spacewalk, a risky manoeuvre that involves depressurising the crew compartment and exiting the spacecraft.

Only astronauts from government-funded space agencies had attempted the feat, prior to this flight. Images broadcast live showed the two crew emerge from the white Dragon capsule to float 435 miles (700km) above the blue Earth below.

Speaking to mission control in Hawthorne, California during the spacewalk, Isaacman said "Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here - looks like a perfect world".

As Dragon doesn't have an airlock, the crew were exposed to the vacuum of space during the spacewalk. This spacewalk, higher than any previously attempted, was made possible by innovative astronaut suits fitted with new technology.

During the five days, the crew conducted more than 40 experiments, including investigations into the impact of space missions on human health and testing intersatellite laser communication between the Dragon Spacecraft and Space X's Starlink satellite.

Gillis, who is a trained violinist, brought her instrument and performed "Rey's Theme" from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," alongside orchestras on earth.

Her rendition was sent back to Earth using SpaceX's Starlink as a test of the satellite network's potential to provide in-space connectivity.

The video was created in partnership with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which the Polaris Program were fundraising for throughout the mission.

The crew were in orbit inside the Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, for a total of five days, launching early on Tuesday morning from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The mission made history by reaching a maximum altitude of 1,400km (870miles), which is higher than any human has flown since the final Apollo Mission in 1972.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned Polaris missions, a collaboration between Mr Isaacman and SpaceX. This includes the first manned flight of the new SpaceX rocket Starship, which is still under development.