By the end of the year, SpaceX intends to launch a private space expedition, named Fram2, aboard a Dragon spacecraft on the first crewed mission to cross the Earth’s poles. The company is not happy to just take visitors into space as a general destination.
After more than 64 years of space travel, an additional orbital mission typically doesn’t make headlines. Nevertheless, all crewed orbital missions have been limited to middle-latitude routes up until now.
The Soviet Vostok 6 mission, which launched the first woman into space in 1963 and reached an inclination of 65° from the equator, is the mission that has traveled the furthest north or south of any other mission.
Fram2 intends to fly people over the North and South Poles for the first time in the interim.
The reason why there has never been a need to deploy astronauts into polar orbit is that they have never done this before. Because polar missions cannot depend on Earth’s rotation to increase their velocity, they are limited to military reconnaissance, mapping, remote surveying, and other specialized duties. Regarding Fram2, the rationale is much the same as that of the 1953 Mount Everest expedition: nobody has succeeded yet.
There has never been a purpose to deploy astronauts into polar orbit, which explains why they haven’t done this before. Due to the difficulty of depending on Earth’s rotation to increase their speed, polar missions have been limited to military surveillance, mapping, remote surveying, and other specialized duties. Regarding Fram2, the rationale is essentially the same as the reason why no one has climbed Mount Everest since 1953.
Chun Wang, a Maltese entrepreneur and explorer, will be in charge of Fram2, which bears the name of the renowned ship Fram, which was used by Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen to explore the Arctic and Antarctic between 1893 and 1912. The vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, the vehicle pilot Eric Philips of Australia, and the mission specialist Rabea Rogge of Germany will be accompanying him.
The mission is expected to take off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida no early than late this year. For three to five days, it will orbit the Earth at a height of 425 to 450 kilometers (264 to 280 miles). The crew intends to take the first-ever human X-ray pictures in space during this mission, as well as watch aurora events in the polar regions and study the effects of spaceflight on the human body.
