Earth ‘looks like a perfect world’, billionaire says on first private spacewalk

A billionaire who stepped out on the first private spacewalk declared that “Earth sure looks like a perfect world”, as he emerged from a spacecraft and looked back at the planet.

Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman carried out a number of mobility tests on a new spacesuit and was the first of two crew members to step out into space.

Mission commander Isaacman joins a small group of spacewalkers who until now had included only professional astronauts from a dozen countries.

In a live feed relayed back to Earth, he could be heard saying: “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.”

SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, erupted in cheers and applause when Mr Isaacman first exited the spacecraft.

The commercial spacewalk was the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Mr Isaacman and Elon Musk’s company.

After completing a series of manoeuvres, Mr Isaacman returned to the Dragon spacecraft, to make way for mission specialist Sarah Gillis to perform the same series of actions and close the hatch after returning to the cabin herself.