Polaris Dawn latest: SpaceX crew complete first ever ‘stand-up’ civilian spacewalk [Video]

SpaceX made history today as its private astronauts conducted the first ever civilian spacewalk as part of its Polaris Dawn mission.

Two astronauts partially exited a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, one at a time, as it orbited Earth at a speed of more than 25,000 kilometres per hour and an altitude of around 740 kilometres.

The crew of four began venting air from the cabin at 1031 GMT and finally opened the hatch manually at around 1050 GMT. All wore SpaceX’s new spacesuit model, which has been thoroughly tested on Earth but never in orbit.

Jared Isaacman, mission commander for the flight and head of and billionaire co-funder of SpaceX’s Polaris programme, was the first to exit the spacecraft and look down on Earth. “From here it sure looks like a perfect world,” said Isaacman as he raised his head and torso out of the capsule.

Isaacman then carried out …