The company has announced the first manned mission to study the polar regions of the Earth, set to take place by the end of this year. The mission, named Fram2, is a tribute to the pioneering expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Commander of the FRAM2 mission will be Chun Wang, an entrepreneur and researcher from Malta. Wang’s goal with this mission is to instill a sense of wonder and curiosity in people, showcasing how modern technologies can push the boundaries of Earth’s exploration. The crew will also include Norwegian Yannikka Mikkelsen managing spacecraft control, Australian Eric Philips as the pilot, and German specialist Rabei Rogge. None of the crew members have prior experience in space travel.
The FRAM2 mission is scheduled to launch using a Falcon 9 rocket from the space coast of Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft will not dock with the International Space Station (ISS) but will autonomously orbit the Earth for 3-5 days. During the mission, the crew plans to study the Earth’s polar regions from an altitude of 425-450 kilometers, observing unique light phenomena resembling the northern lights.
As part of the mission, the crew will investigate light phenomena such as Steve (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) that occurs around 400-500 kilometers above Earth’s atmosphere. Additionally, the impact of space travel on the human body will be studied, with plans to obtain the first X-ray image of a person in space in history.
The FRAM2 mission marks the sixth private spaceflight organized by SpaceX. The company has previously conducted private missions like Inspiration4 and a series of AX flights by Axiom Space. SpaceX has also completed nine missions for NASA, delivering astronauts to the ISS starting with the DEMO-2 test flight in 2020.