THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX’s Polaris crew set for first private spacewalking mission next week.

A four-person crew for SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission arrived in Florida on Monday ahead of their Aug. 26 launch to space for a mission that includes the first privately managed spacewalk, a risky endeavor only government astronauts have done in the past.

The crew – a billionaire entrepreneur, a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees – neared the end of more than two years of training for the mission, in which they will venture out of their Crew Dragon capsule in Earth’s orbit for a tethered spacewalk.

The mission will be a major first test of SpaceX’s new astronaut spacesuits and marks the latest risky, high-stakes commercial milestone that Elon Musk’s space company is looking to clinch on the billionaire’s path to eventually building colonies on Mars.

“Whatever risk associated with it, it is worth it,” said mission commander Jared Isaacman, the CEO of electronic payment company Shift4 who is also the head of the SpaceX-affiliated Polaris program.

Godspeed…