At ten minutes before two in the afternoon, Cyprus time, on Thursday, space history was made as, for the first time, a civilian was exposed to the vacuum of space. The crew members of the Polaris Dawn mission, traveling aboard SpaceX’s spacecraft since Tuesday, opened the hatch and began exiting to take in the breathtaking view of Earth.

The first to step outside was American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who funded the mission. He was followed by SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis. The event was broadcast live. The other two passengers, pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX employee Anna Menon, remained inside the spacecraft but were also exposed to space while being supplied with oxygen through tubes in their spacesuits.

Onboard the spacecraft are a billionaire entrepreneur, a retired fighter pilot, and two SpaceX employees. Jared Isaacman, founder of the electronic payment company Shift4, funded the mission, though the exact amount remains undisclosed, with estimates exceeding $100 million. Joining him are the mission pilot, Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

The spacecraft will orbit Earth over a five-day mission, reaching distances between 190 and nearly 1,000 kilometers from the planet. The spacewalk was scheduled for Thursday at an altitude of 700 kilometers. In addition to this groundbreaking spacewalk, the mission will test advanced satellite communication technologies using lasers.