Spacex Prepares for the First Crewed Journey Over Earth's Poles.
SpaceX plans to break new ground in polar exploration with the first manned space voyage across the Earth’s poles, a private journey led by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur later this year, the firm announced Tuesday.
The voyage, named “Fram2” after a 19th-century polar expedition schooner, is expected to last three to five days and was paid for by Chun Wang, a wealthy bitcoin pioneer who developed f2pool and stakefish, for an undisclosed sum.
We’ll be joined by three polar experts: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge, and Australian arctic adventurer Eric Philips.
It is the aerospace industry’s newest foray into private space tourism, which has grown rapidly in the United States in recent years.
“From mission proposal, planning, trajectory design, and crew selection, everything has been done by the customer,” Wang, who was born and raised in China but is now a Maltese citizen, stated in a post on X.
“A new chapter in space exploration is unfolding before our eyes,” he told me.
Satellites have flown over the poles, but due to the Earth’s rotation, reaching them can require more power, and radiation can also be an issue, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told AFP.
According to the mission website, the Soviet Vostok 6 mission reached the highest inclination in human spaceflight to date, at 65°.
The poles are not visible from the International Space Station.
The mission will make use of a SpaceX Dragon capsule outfitted with an observation dome. According to SpaceX, the ship will fly at altitudes ranging from 265 to 280 miles (425 to 450 kilometers).
According to SpaceX, the crew will perform research, including the first X-ray photographs in space and the examination of an aurora-like light phenomenon.
SpaceX has launched 13 manned missions over the last four years. It transports NASA personnel to the International Space Station, but it has also completed many space tourism missions, including the first in 2021, dubbed Inspiration4, which was funded by American billionaire Jared Isaacman.
“Until 2021, space missions were solely the privilege of governments,” Wang stated. She continued: “Then @inspiration4x came along and changed everything.”
SpaceX plans to launch another private mission, Polaris Dawn, on August 26 with four crew members, including Isaacman.
It is set to involve the first private spacewalk.
