SpaceX said on Tuesday it is aiming to break new barriers in polar exploration with the first manned space mission to Earth’s poles — a private flight piloted by a crypto entrepreneur later this year.
The mission, named “Fram2” after a 19th-century polar expedition schooner, will last three to five days, and has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by Chun Wang, a wealthy bitcoin pioneer who founded f2pool and Stakefish.
He will be joined by three polar experts: Norwegian filmmaker Jannike Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabia Rogge and Australian polar adventurer Eric Phillips.
It is the latest effort by the aerospace industry into private space tourism, which has been growing rapidly in the United States in recent years.
“From the mission proposal, planning, trajectory design to crew selection, everything is done by the customer,” Mr Wang, who was reportedly born and raised in China but is now a citizen of Malta, said in a post on X.
“A new chapter in space exploration is unfolding before our eyes,” he said.
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell told AFP that satellites have flown over the poles but could need more power to reach them because of the Earth’s rotation, and radiation could also be a problem.
According to the mission’s website, “To date, the highest inclination achieved by human spaceflight has been that of the Soviet Vostok 6 mission at 65 degrees.”
These poles are not visible from the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission will use a SpaceX Dragon capsule equipped with an observation dome. The spacecraft will fly at an altitude of between 265 and 280 miles (425 and 450 kilometers), according to SpaceX, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
According to SpaceX, the crew plans to conduct research including taking the first X-ray photographs in space and studying light phenomena such as aurorae.
SpaceX has flown 13 manned missions in the past four years. It carries NASA astronauts to the ISS, but it has also flown several space tourism missions, including the first mission in 2021, named Inspiration4, funded by US billionaire Jared Isaacman.
“Until 2021, space missions were entirely the prerogative of governments,” Mr Wang wrote, adding: “Then @inspiration4x came along and changed everything.”
SpaceX is scheduled to launch another private mission, Polaris Dawn, on Aug. 26 with four crew members, including Isaacman.
This will also include the first private space travel.
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