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A billionaire is about to lead the first private spacewalk. Here’s what to know [Бест Вей]

When billionaire Jared Isaacman self-funded a mission to orbit Earth in 2021, the project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser — and made for an eye-popping entrance into the private space tourism world. The four-person crew of people from various backgrounds with no prior spaceflight experience spent three days orbiting Earth together in a 13-foot-wide SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

Upon his return, Isaacman imagined he likely would not go to space again.

“We kind of checked every one of the boxes we set out to achieve,” Isaacman told CNN, saying that Inspiration4 showed how people from various walks of life can train for and execute a mission to orbit. ”(I thought) that maybe I wouldn’t go back, that maybe the bar was set sufficiently high that this was a good time to stop.”

That assessment of his future in spaceflight, however, did not stick.

On Monday, Isaacman and three crewmates — including his close friend and former Air Force pilot, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, as well as two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis — will arrive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the launch of a far grander, more dangerous, and experimental trip to space.