Connect with us

Published

on

An American billionaire has become the first person to take part in a private spacewalk – against the spectacular backdrop of the Earth.

A spacewalk is considered one of the most dangerous activities an astronaut can do in orbit.

SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk – live updates

SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk
Pic: SpaceX
Image:
Jared Isaacman outside the Dragon capsule. Pic: SpaceX

It was delayed by around four hours earlier this morning – with no explanation given – before final safety checks of the spacesuits and equipment were carried out and SpaceX officials confirmed the mission was “go for spacewalk”.

First images broadcast from inside the Dragon capsule showed the four-strong crew preparing for the historic event – and sharing fist bumps with each other.

Pic: SpaceX via AP
Image:
The crew inside the Dragon capsule ahead of the scheduled spacewalk. Pic: SpaceX via AP

SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk - live
Image:
Pic: SpaceX

Daredevil Jared Isaacman, 41, was the first to exit the capsule – joining a small, elite group of spacewalkers who until today had included only professional astronauts.

After opening the hatch, a body camera showed his ascent through the narrow opening before incredible footage showed the spacewalk taking place to huge cheers from mission control at Cape Canaveral.

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, in awe of what he could see, as he eased out of the spacecraft into the vacuum of space, hundreds of miles from Earth.

He kept a hand or foot attached to the capsule the whole time as he flexed his arms and legs to see how the new spacesuit held up.

“The handsfree demonstration is very comparable to the trainer, in terms of the foot restraint,” he added, as he tested his spacesuit.

He had said before lift-off earlier this week: “Whatever risk is associated with it, it is worth it.”

“I wasn’t alive when humans walked on the moon,” he said. “I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system.”

The tech entrepreneur blasted into space from Cape Canaveral in Florida before dawn on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday for the five-day flight – along with mission pilot Scott Poteet, 50, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis, 30, and Anna Menon, 38, both senior engineers at the company.

Ms Gillis followed Mr Isaacman out of the capsule on Thursday to carry out the same mobility tests.

The pair bobbed up and down in weightlessness, no higher than their knees out of the capsule.

Astronauts from left, mission specialist Anna Menon, pilot Scott Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis. Pic: AP
Image:
Astronauts from left, mission specialist Anna Menon, pilot Scott Poteet, commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis. Pic: AP

The mission, called Polaris Dawn, to test a new line of spacesuits is the Elon Musk-led company’s riskiest mission yet – from a space capsule that doesn’t have a safety airlock, and in suits far slimmer than the bulky protective layers worn by NASA astronauts.

It is the first of three funded by Mr Isaacman – a pilot and the billionaire founder of electronic payment company Shift4.

He has refused to say how much he is paying for the missions, but they are believed to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars based on Crew Dragon’s roughly $55m (£42m) per-seat price for other flights.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Ms Gillis could be heard saying “pretty good” as she carried out her spacewalk – before she followed Mr Isaacman back into the capsule, after being told what sounded like she had less than six minutes of oxygen supply left.

“Pressure indicates good seal,” mission control told the astronauts, reassuringly, as the hatch was shut again.

“That was really cool,” said one of the presenters on the SpaceX live stream.

Mr Menon and Mr Poteet remained inside the spacecraft during the spacewalk.

Only government astronauts with several years of training have done spacewalks in the past.

There have been around 270 on the International Space Station (ISS) since it was set up in 2000, and 16 by Chinese astronauts on Beijing’s Tiangong space station.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

US

Two killed after suspect shot at firefighters in Idaho, authorities say

Published

on

By

Two killed after suspect shot at firefighters in Idaho, authorities say

Two people have been killed after a suspect shot at firefighters responding to a fire in the US state of Idaho, authorities have said.

Police were still “taking sniper fire” near the city of Coeur d’Alene on Sunday afternoon, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said.

Crews were responding to a fire at Canfield Mountain around 1.30pm and gunshots were reported around half an hour later, the force said.

Officers gather near the scene. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

Sheriff Bob Norris said officials believe the two killed were firefighters, and he did not know if anyone else was shot.

“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” he said. “We are actively taking fire sniper as we speak.”

Mr Norris said the sniper appeared to be hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle, adding he had instructed his deputies to fire back.

“I’m hoping that somebody has a clear shot and is able to neutralise, because they’re not at this point in time showing any evidence of wanting to surrender,” the sheriff said.

Armoured police vehicles at the scene. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” he said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

The president of the International Association of Firefighters said a third firefighter was in surgery.

In a statement on social media Edward Kelly said the firefighters “were ambushed in a heinous act of violence”. He added: “Two of our brothers were killed by a sniper, and a third brother remains in surgery.”

The sheriff’s office in neighbouring Shoshone County said authorities were “dealing with an active shooter situation where the shooter is still at large”.

Smoke billows into the air after several firefighters were attacked while responding to a fire. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Smoke billows into the air after several firefighters were attacked while responding to a fire. Pic: Reuters

The fire was still raging, Mr Norris said.

“It’s going to keep burning,” he added. “Can’t put any resources on it right now.”

The FBI was sending technical teams and tactical support to the scene, its deputy director Dan Bongino said.

“It remains an active, and very dangerous scene,” he said on X.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking spot on the outskirts of Coeur d’Alene, a city of around 55,000 people in northern Idaho.

Continue Reading

US

Donald Trump says ‘very wealthy group’ has agreed to buy TikTok in the US

Published

on

By

Donald Trump says 'very wealthy group' has agreed to buy TikTok in the US

Donald Trump has said the US government has found a buyer for TikTok that he will reveal “in about two weeks”.

The president told Fox News “it’s a group of very wealthy people”, adding: “I think I’ll probably need China approval, I think President Xi will probably do it.”

TikTok was ordered last year to find a new owner for its US operation – or face a ban – after politicians said they feared sensitive data about Americans could be passed to the Chinese government.

The video app’s owner, Bytedance, has repeatedly denied such claims.

It originally had a deadline of 19 January to find a buyer – and many users were shocked when it “went dark” for a number of hours when that date came round, before later being restored.

However, President Trump has now extended the deadline several times.

The last extension was on 19 June, when the president signed another executive order pushing it back to 17 September.

More on Tiktok

Mr Trump’s latest comments suggest multiple people coming together to take control of the app in the US.

Among those rumoured to be potential buyers include YouTube superstar Mr Beast, US search engine startup Perplexity AI, and Kevin O’Leary – an investor from Shark Tank (the US version of Dragons’ Den).

Bytedance said in April that it was still talking to the US government, but there were “differences on many key issues”.

It’s believed the Chinese government will have to approve any agreement.

The president said the identity of the buyer would be disclosed in about two weeks. Pic: Fox News
Image:
The president said the identity of the buyer would be disclosed in about two weeks. Pic: Fox News

President Trump’s interview with Fox News also touched on the upcoming end of the pause in US tariffs on imported goods.

On April 9, he granted a 90-day reprieve for countries threatened with a tariff of more than 10% in order to give them time to negotiate.

Deals have already been struck with some countries, including the UK.

Read more from Sky News:
Iran could begin enriching uranium again in months – UN
Major porn sites to introduce ‘robust’ age verification in UK

The president said he didn’t think he would need to push back the 9 July deadline and that letters would be sent out imminently stating what tariff each country would face.

“We’ll look at the deficit we have – or whatever it is with the country; we’ll look at how the country treats us – are they good, are they not so good. Some countries, we don’t care – we’ll just send a high number out,” he said.

“But we’re going to be sending letters out starting pretty soon. We don’t have to meet, we have all the numbers.”

The president announced the tariffs in April, arguing they were correcting an unfair trade relationship and would return lost prosperity to US industries such as car-making.

Continue Reading

US

Iran could begin enriching uranium again in months, says UN nuclear watchdog chief

Published

on

By

Iran could begin enriching uranium again in months, says UN nuclear watchdog chief

Iran will have the capacity to begin enriching uranium again in “a matter of months”, the UN’s nuclear watchdog boss has said.

Rafael Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that US strikes on three sites a week ago had caused “severe damage” but it was not “total”.

Middle East: live updates

Mr Grossi told CBS News: “The capacities they have are there. They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that.

“But as I said, frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there.”

Iran still has “industrial and technological capabilities… so if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again”, he added.

A satellite overview shows excavators at tunnel entrances at the Fordow site in Iran. Pic: Maxar/Reuters
Image:
A satellite overview shows excavators at tunnel entrances at the Fordow site in Iran. Pic: Maxar Technologies/Reuters

Iranian nuclear and military sites were attacked by Israel on 13 June, with the Israelis claiming Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapon.

The US then carried out its own strikes on 22 June, hitting Iranian nuclear installations at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, under Operation Midnight Hammer.

Iran has insisted its nuclear research is for civilian energy production purposes.

US President Donald Trump said last weekend that the US deployment of 30,000lb “bunker-busting” bombs had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.

But that claim appeared to be contradicted by an initial assessment from the US Defence Intelligence Agency.

A source said Iran’s enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and the country’s nuclear programme, much of which is buried deep underground, may have been put back only a month or two.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Did the US destroy Iran’s nuclear sites?

Mr Trump has rejected any suggestion that the damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.

And he stated he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran was enriching uranium to worrying levels.

At a news conference on Thursday alongside US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Dan Caine, told reporters the GBU-57 bunker buster bombs had been designed in some secrecy with exactly this sort of target in mind.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US: Iran nuclear sites ‘obliterated’

The head of the CIA has also said a “body of credible intelligence” indicates Iran’s nuclear programme was “severely damaged”.

Director John Ratcliffe revealed that information from a “historically reliable and accurate source” suggests several key sites were destroyed – and will take years to rebuild.

Read more from Sky News:
Glastonbury organiser says anti-IDF chants ‘crossed a line’
Murder investigation after pregnant woman found dead

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country “slapped America in the face” by launching an attack on 23 June against a major US base in Qatar, adding the nation would never surrender.

The 12-day air conflict between Israel and Iran ended with a US-brokered ceasefire.

But the Iranian armed forces chief of staff, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, has said his country doubts Israel will maintain the truce.

A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said the US strikes had caused significant damage to Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

Continue Reading

Trending