The first human spaceflight ever to cruise over Earth’s polar regions, the privately funded Fram2 mission from SpaceX, is set to carry four astronauts on a roughly four-day orbital mission.
Fram2 will launch no earlier than Monday (March 31) aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule Resilience, which will also carry a variety of scientific experiments. This will be the sixth private astronaut mission by SpaceX, as well as Resilience’s fourth launch.
Named after a Norwegian ship that explored the Arctic and Antarctic regions at the turn of the 20th century, Fram2 will follow a long tradition of privately funded polar expeditions. This one, however, is the first of the lot to go to space.
Let’s meet the crew members who are scheduled to launch next week on this pioneering mission.
Related: Private SpaceX Fram2 mission ready for world’s 1st crewed flight over Earth’s polar regions (photos)
Chun Wang
Maltese cryptocurrency magnate Chun Wang will serve as the mission’s commander. The Chinese-born bitcoin miner and entrepreneur helped foot the bill for the Fram2 mission, according to CNBC. Wang is a co-founder of F2Pool, a global operation that coordinates computer networks for bitcoin mining.
“I’ve been interested in space from a very young age … and for the first time, a private person can plan and design their own very personal mission,” Wang told CNBC last year. “We are trying to make the door wider and make people feel that everyone can have their own very personal space mission.”
Jannicke Mikkelsen
Jannicke Mikkelsen
Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen will serve as the mission’s vehicle commander. Her speciality is working in difficult environments like the Arctic and the open ocean. She’s also known for filmmaking techniques that use new technology.
Mikkelsen has worked with Sir David Attenborough to shoot 360-degree documentaries underwater. She also served as payload specialist for the One More Orbit mission, which circumnavigated the globe via the North and South Poles to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
“As a filmmaker, I have long dreamed of these possibilities in fiction. Now, step by step, commercial mission by commercial mission, we are turning those dreams into reality,” Mikkelsen said in a statement on the Fram2 website.
Rabea Rogge
The mission’s pilot, Rabea Rogge, is an engineer and scientist from Berlin who specializes in robotics and polar research. She’s currently working on a PhD in marine technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Rogge will make history on Fram2 as the first female German astronaut.
Rogge’s mission bio states: “She has always been fascinated by extreme environments, studying them to understand the limits of our world — and to push beyond them. Her work includes leading a satellite mission and researching ocean robotics in the Arctic, reflecting her commitment to advancing technology in both polar regions and space.”
Eric Phillips
Eric Phillips
Australian polar explorer Eric Phillips will serve as Fram2’s mission specialist and medical officer. With a long career as an adventurer and guide, Phillips has led ski expeditions to the North and South Poles.
Phillips is co-founder and former president of the International Polar Guides Association, as well as co-creator of the Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme, a grading and labelling system for extended polar trips. He’s written about and produced a number of documentaries on his expeditions.
“Having spent much of my adult life in the polar regions, this is an incredible opportunity to view the Arctic and Antarctica from space — in particular Antarctica, which will be fully lit at this time of year,” Phillips said in a statement on the mission website.
Three of SpaceX’s five previous private astronaut missions visited the International Space Station. Those three, known as Ax-1, Ax-2 and Ax-3, were organized by the Houston-based company Axiom Space.
The other two were free flyers in Earth orbit, like Fram2 will be. Inspiration4, which launched in September 2021, was the first all-private orbital spaceflight, and last September’s Polaris Dawn featured the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
