Four private astronauts flew into orbit above Earth from pole to pole on the SpaceX Fram2 mission. Five other private astronauts would take part in the multi-day mission onboard the Dragon Resilience spacecraft arranged by the 42-year-old entrepreneur and live adventurer. These comprise 38-year-old Jannicke Mikkelsen—a Norwegian cinematographer and director, along with 29-year-old Rabea Rogge—a German robotics researcher, plus 62-year-old Eric Philips—an Australian polar explorer.
Mission Drawn from Exploration
Cryptocurrency speculator Wang comes from Tianjin, China, but now lives in Malta. He calls himself a ‘nomad’—having’ traveled to more than 100 countries in the last few years. He shared that he thought up the name for the mission while being in Saudi Arabia, inspired by the historic ship called Fram that was built to reach both of Earth’s poles.
In the evening of April 23, 2023, I was lying in bed in a hotel, thinking of that perfect name for the first spaceflight mission to orbit the poles,” Wang told Spaceflight Now in an interview given prior to the launch. “I thought of Fram, the ship intended for exploration of both poles.
Meet the Crew of Fram2
Vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen leads the Fram2 mission. She is an accomplished Norwegian film director and cinematographer specializing in filming in hazardous and remote environments, including those of the polar regions.
The pilot is Rabea Rogge, born in Berlin, a robotics researcher and electrical engineer focusing on Arctic robotics. Rogge also makes her name in history as the first female German astronaut.
Mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips hails from Australia, and he is an experienced polar adventurer and guide. For his contribution to polar exploration, in 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). He is also the co-founder and the former president of the International Polar Guides Association (IPGA) and co-creator of the Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme (PECS).
A New Era of Commercial Spaceflight
Wang made a point of saying that the mission is important in developing private space exploration. “After training intensively and dedicating extensive effort on the part of our entire team, we are very proud of continuing the Fram heritage into this thrilling new chapter of commercial space exploration,” he says in a press release that has been quoted in ABC News. “This opportunity will make us great, and we shall be extremely grateful to SpaceX for making this mission a reality. It’s going to be great to be the first crew to view and capture the polar regions of Earth from low-Earth orbit while supporting critical research to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration.”
The Fram2 mission is an important milestone in the idea of commercial spaceflight shaping up the future privately led expeditions.
