The mission, called Fram2, took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at around 9:46 p.m. ET on March 31. The commercial flight is funded by cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang and is accompanied by three other explorers: Norwegian director Jannicke Mikkelsen, German roboticist Rabea Rogge, and Australian explorer Eric Philips.
The mission, called Fram2, took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 9:46 p.m. ET on March 31.
Chun Wang is a Maltese entrepreneur who is well-known in the Bitcoin mining industry. He is the co-founder of F2Pool, one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools in the world, accounting for about 11% of the total global computing power in this field. However, information about Wang is quite secretive and there is not much public data about his assets.
Jannicke Mikkelsen is a filmmaker and adventurer who lives next door to Wang in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, one of the world's most Arctic regions. She produces documentaries and science fiction films, and has developed technology for filming in extreme environments. Mikkelsen plans to make a film about the trip.
Rabea Rogge is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, researching positioning, guidance and control systems for autonomous vehicles in extreme conditions. With this flight, she also became the first German woman to orbit the Earth.
Eric Philips is a professional explorer who has made about 30 expeditions to the Earth's polar regions since 1992. He said the harsh environment of the polar regions is very similar to outer space: “We will be locked in the Dragon capsule for three to five days, which is similar to a snowstorm in space.”
(From left) Rabea Rogge, Eric Philips, Jannicke Mikkelsen and Chun Wang
To get them into orbit, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket had to fly south, a route never before used in a manned flight. Fram2’s planned trajectory would take the spacecraft over Cuba and Panama before reaching the required altitude.
Minutes after leaving the launch pad, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket separated and returned to land on a barge at sea, while the upper stage continued to fire its engine, pushing the Dragon spacecraft to a speed of more than 28,000 km/h to enter orbit.
The unique trajectory of Fram2 is not only a technical challenge, but also reflects the crew’s spirit of exploration, as the spacecraft is named after the Norwegian Arctic and Antarctic exploration ship “Fram” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Training for the Fram2 mission lasted more than a year, including training in harsh conditions in Alaska and SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. “We are not your typical NASA astronauts… From people with no space experience, we have been trained and certified to do this mission,” Jannicke Mikkelsen said in a pre-flight press conference.
Getting into a polar orbit is no easy task. Most flights from the US East Coast fly east to take advantage of the Earth’s rotation, which saves energy. Fram2, however, must fly south, requiring significantly more fuel. This trajectory significantly reduces the rocket’s payload capacity, according to Dr. Craig Kluever, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Missouri.
Still, given the capabilities of the Falcon 9, putting Dragon into orbit is still possible. “This is a commercial flight, so it needs to be something special to make it different,” said Dr. Christopher Combs, Associate Dean for Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “It’s something that’s never been done before, and it’s great that commercial companies are helping make space tourism more accessible.”
Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft
In addition to setting the orbit record, the Fram2 crew also conducted 22 space science experiments, mainly focusing on crew health. However, much of this research was not dependent on polar orbit and could have been done on other flights.
It’s unclear how much Wang paid for the flight, but it certainly wasn’t cheap. Billionaire Jared Isaacman has spent millions on SpaceX commercial missions in the past. While Fram2’s mission is primarily exploratory, it marks a new step in the commercialization of space and opens up new opportunities for future spaceflight missions.
