It’s one thing to ride a shuttle into space. It’s another to don a spacesuit and step into the void. Apart from launch and reentry, experts deem spacewalking the most dangerous part of spaceflight. This risky activity has been the exclusive domain of professional astronauts working for government space agencies—until now.
Jared Isaacman is a billionaire technology entrepreneur. He runs a credit card processing company called Shift4. He’s also the first person to perform a private (non-government) spacewalk.
To pull off the floating feat, Isaacman teamed up with SpaceX. He chartered a five-day flight through space. On Tuesday, he and three others blasted off from Florida. They rocketed farther from Earth than anyone since NASA’s moonwalkers.
SpaceX used the trip to test out a new spacesuit design. As Isaacman started to exit the spacecraft, he immediately ran into a glitch. The button for the hatch didn’t work. But SpaceX engineers had planned for this possibility. Isaacman was able to pull the hatch open by hand.
Isaacman’s excursion involved more stretching than actual “spacewalking.” He flexed his arms and legs to test the suit’s durability. He always kept one hand or foot attached to the capsule. A 12-foot tether held him to the ship. After about 10 minutes, he headed back to the door.
Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer, also went out once Isaacman came back in. She performed more suit tests and reported back to Mission Control. The other two crew members stayed inside to monitor the spacewalks.
As spacewalkers, Isaacman and Gillis join a group of only 263 other humans. In 1965, Alexei Leonov of Russia (then the Soviet Union) became the first person to spacewalk. He was soon followed by NASA’s Ed White.
“Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do,” said Isaacman as he soared above Earth. “But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world.”
Of course, Earth isn’t perfect. When mankind disobeyed God, sin and death entered creation. But God created the world. He called it good. That goodness still shines through, even in the darkness.
Most of us can’t afford a spacewalk. (Isaacman won’t say exactly how much of his fortune he spent on the daring jaunt.) But we can all shift our perspective to zoom out and see God’s goodness in the world. When we look at His handiwork, we can see His beauty.
I made the Earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. — Isaiah 45:12
