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SpaceX aims to launch the first-ever crewed spaceflight mission over the Earth’s poles.
As part of the three-to-five day mission, four civilian astronauts will fly onboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The crew aims to observe various atmospheric lighting phenomena from an altitude of 425 – 450km (265–280 miles) above the North and South Poles of the Earth, the Elon Musk-led company announced.
The crewed mission is called Fram2, named after the Norwegian explorer vessel that was used for a series of expeditions through the Arctic and Antarctic Circles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is expected to be the company’s sixth commercial flight in 2024 alone. Notably, SpaceX has already completed 13 crewed missions in the last four years, including nine missions for NASA and four commercial ones.
The mission is led by Chun Wang, who SpaceX introduced as “an entrepreneur and adventurer from Malta.” Wang is accompanied by “a crew of international adventurers,” including Eric Philips from Australia, who joins as the vehicle’s pilot, Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, who will be the vehicle’s commander, and Rabea Rogge from Germany, serving as the mission specialist. This would be the first spaceflight for each of the crew members, SpaceX noted.
The Dragon capsule with a copula will house the space pilots who intend to study “unusual light emissions resembling auroras.” The mission is designed to specifically study green and mauve bands of lighting phenomenon in the polar skies.
In addition to studying the aurora-like emissions, the spaceflight will also be used to conduct a “variety of research” to study its effects on the human body as well as “behavioral health,” SpaceX said. The company also aims to use this opportunity to perform X-ray imaging on the human body while in spaceflight for the very first time during Fram2.
The spaceflight will be propelled by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and will take off in “late 2024” from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is likely to be timed around the summer solstice (December 21–23) in the Southern Hemisphere to ensure maximum lighting while flying over Antarctica, Ars Technica reported.
