Above the sharks: Historic space mission captures images of Australia as it returns to Earth

Key Points

A SpaceX mission has facilitated the first private spacewalk in history.
As the Dragon spacecraft used for the mission headed back to Earth for landing, it flew over Australia.
One of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will be used for a NASA mission to retrieve astronauts next year.

The first civilian crew to take a walk in space arrived back to Earth on Sunday, but not before capturing a view of Australia from a rarely seen perspective.

American spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which has been launched into space 47 times, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida after a five-day trip.

The Polaris Dawn mission

Billionaire Jared Isaacman was one of four people on board SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on a mission named Polaris Dawn. Source: AAP / AP

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who shared the cost of the Polaris Dawn mission with the Elon Musk-founded SpaceX, was part of a four-person crew on board the spacecraft.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned Polaris missions Isaacman is involved in.

With him were two SpaceX staff and a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel.

The Dragon completed its first test flight with a crew in 2020, which earned the SpaceX spacecraft certification from the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Spacewalking through history

Late on Thursday night (AEST), while orbiting nearly 740km above Earth, Isaacman exited the hatch, to carry out the first spacewalk by a private individual — that is, not a professional astronaut.

At that location, the spacecraft and crew were higher than both the International Space Station (ISS) and Hubble Space Telescope.

A person silhouetted emerging from a spacecraft, with a large blue planet below them.

US entrepreneur and billionaire Jared Isaacman became the 264th person to take a spacewalk and the first non-astronaut to do so. Source: AAP / SpaceX handout

With much of his body outside of the aircraft, Isaacman carried out checks on the SpaceX spacesuit he wore before reflecting on the planet glittering below him.

“Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.”

SpaceX lead space operations engineer Sarah Gillis went next.

Before Isaacman’s venture, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts.

Shark Bay, WA seen from space

In the hours before Dragon came back to Earth, SpaceX shared video on social media platform X that was captured from the aircraft as it passed over Australia.

Video seen by more than half a million people on X shows an upside down view of the on the Western Australian coast.

The UNESCO-listed area is the largest and most diverse sea grass ecosystem in the world and is home to fish, endangered green turtles, dugongs and the sharks it got its name from.

Dragon spacecraft

One of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will be used early next year to retrieve two NASA astronauts who have been stuck on the ISS since June.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams flew to the ISS in June on the Boeing Starliner capsule on what was supposed to be an eight-day stay.

However, issues with its propulsion system led to NASA deeming it too risky to carry the crew home and the spacecraft returned to Earth without the crew.

The Starliner arrived back on earth on 6 September and an astronaut and a cosmonaut will travel to the ISS in February to retrieve the pair.

The Dragon is capable of transporting up to seven people but will be reconfigured to carry four people and a large amount of cargo on its way back to earth.

According to NASA, Wilmore and Williams are in a good position to complete their extended stay, sharing on its website that they “each have previously completed two long-duration stays aboard the station”.

“NASA astronauts embark on missions fully aware of the various scenarios that may become reality. This mission is no different, and they understood the possibilities and unknowns, including being aboard station longer than planned.”