SpaceX Polaris Dawn live updates: Billionaire attempts first private spacewalk from SpaceX Dragon

“EVA operations are complete,” the Polaris Dawn crew confirms.

That means pressurisation of the Crew Dragon spacecraft has finished, which concludes today’s spacewalk.

A lot of historic firsts, including the first ever commercial spacewalk, as well as the most number of people exposed to an unpressurised space environment simultaneously.

You can read more about today’s spacewalk here.

The Crew Dragon capsule has crossed over the Pacific Ocean blackspot and video signal has returned, showing the Polaris Dawn crew safely inside. They’re still suited up as they await the pressurisation of the cabin to finish.

We still don’t have a video signal but SpaceX confirms that the mission is progressing as planned and the capsule is now repressurising.

Everything has gone to plan so far, proving the viability of both the Crew Dragon capsule and the extravehicular activity suits for spacewalks.

Three million people are still tuned in to SpaceX’s live stream, though there’s not much more to watch. We’ll have replays of the spacewalks shortly.

We’ve lost video signal as the Crew Dragon craft heads out over the Pacific Ocean, where there are no ground stations to relay the signal.

Sarah Gillis seems to get a better view than her crew commander as she floats out to her knees from the capsule.

She does a few arm movements to test the mobility of the EVA suit before sinking back into the Crew Dragon craft.

“Really cool to see one of our own out there, that’s awesome,” says the SpaceX commentator over the live stream.

Isaacman is back in the capsule after poking the top half of his body out.

Now it’s the turn of Sarah Gillis – a SpaceX employee who started at the company as an intern.

The ground crew cheer as Isaacman exits the Crew Dragon craft for the first time.

The question I asked earlier of whether or not he has some pre-prepared words gets answered.

“Back at home we still have a lot of work to do,” he sayd, “but from here it looks like a perfect world.”

SpaceX ground control finally gives the go-ahead to open the top hatch as the Crew Dragon capsule completes its depressurisation.

Isaacman turns the lever and gives it a big tug to release the hatch.

We’re still waiting for the hatch to open as the capsule continues to depressurise. It’s hard to hear what the crew members are saying to each other due to the flow of air into the suits. Isaacman is still holding on to the hatch’s handle as he waits for the signal that he can open.

The capsule is under 3psi, and it needs to be around 1psi before he can attempt to open the hatch.

All crew members are fitted with open mics, so they can all hear each other during the mission Their voices are actually changing as they enter the lower pressure environment.

I wonder if they’ve prepared some poignant words for the moment they exit the craft.