Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has launched the first-ever mission in which humans will circle the Earth above its poles. The Fram2 mission was launched into polar orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket from the launch complex at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida (USA).
This was reported by the SpaceX press service.
The Fram2 mission was led by Chun Wang from Malta, who was joined by Yannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, Rabea Rogge from Germany and Eric Phillips from Australia. This is the first space flight for all of them.
The crew will spend the next few days circling the most remote places on the planet to see the poles as no one else has ever seen them. The astronauts will conduct 22 studies to develop humanity’s capabilities for long-term space exploration and understanding of human health in space.
The last research experiment will take place after landing, as the crew will forgo the typical medical and mobility assistance that astronauts typically use after a space flight while their bodies re-adapt to Earth’s gravity.
The Fram2 mission is named after the Fram, a steamship used by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen during his historic expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912.