SpaceX Dragon Deorbit and Splashdown PoLaris Dawn

SpaceX Dragon Deorbit and Splashdown PoLaris Dawn

Crew Dragon Resilience splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Polaris Dawn crew composed of Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon after a five-day mission on orbit.

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn crew has returned to Earth after five days in orbit, following an historic mission featuring the world’s first commercial spacewalk.

The Dragon capsule made splashdown off the coast of Florida shortly after 03:37EDT (08:30BST), 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, backrolled 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 also on the crew.

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