SpaceX
SpaceX plans to send the first-ever crewed spaceflight over both poles of Earth, possibly before the end of the year, the company announced on Monday. The privately-run Crew Dragon mission will be led by China-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang and will be accompanied by a polar explorer, roboticist and filmmaker he has befriended in recent years.
The “Fram2” mission is, Norwegian research vessel FramThe satellite will launch into the polar corridor from SpaceX’s launch facility in Florida and fly directly above the North and South Poles. The three-to-five day mission is planned to fly over Antarctica near the Southern Hemisphere’s summer solstice for maximum brightness.
A crew of four will fly aboard Crew Dragon. EnduranceNamed after Ernest Shackleton’s famous ship that became trapped in the Antarctic ice and eventually sank nearly a century ago, the craft will be equipped with a cupola for both photography and cinematography.
It will be SpaceX’s third free-flying mission aboard Crew Dragon, following the Inspiration 4 mission in 2021, funded and led by US entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, and the Polaris Dawn mission, scheduled to launch later this month. In the interview, Wang said the crew and public affairs program for the Fram 2 mission will be modeled on the template established by Isaacman.
Background of Bitcoin Mining
Wang, a native of China, was involved in bitcoin mining from its early days. “I first heard about bitcoin in 2011 and started mining immediately,” he said. “I continued mining for two years, at which point I started a mining pool.”
Wang founded China’s first bitcoin mining pool, F2Pool, in 2013. This kind of company allows miners with powerful computers to collectively “mine” bitcoin and share the profits. Wang later led the company’s decentralization. Wang moved to Thailand in 2015 and then to South Korea. He is now a Maltese citizen and has been traveling the world more or less since 2021. Wang says he likes to spend a lot of time in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago.
In the interview, Wang said he became a billionaire in 2021 when the prices of Bitcoin, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies soared. Wang added that he had long been interested in space and began discussions with SpaceX about buying a seat on the private Dragon mission. As the discussions matured in 2023, Wang realized that if he bought the entire mission, he could set its parameters.
He wanted to try something new, and flying a polar mission dovetailed with his interest in Earth’s colder regions. The highest inclination ever achieved by a manned spacecraft was the Soviet Vostok 6 mission in 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova’s spacecraft reached 65.1 degrees. Now, Fram 2 is set to fly directly over both poles on a repeat mission.
Meet the Crew
Chun said he met two of the crew members on a ski trip several years ago and the other on Svalbard. They all share an interest in exploration, adventure and the polar regions. Chun said he hopes the entire crew will contribute to the mission, deepening human understanding of Earth’s polar regions and spreading interest in spaceflight.
The other three crew members on this mission are:
Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle CommanderMikkelsen, a film director and cinematographer, specializes in remote and hazardous environments, including the Arctic, ocean, aviation and space. In 2019, he served as a payload specialist on the record-breaking polar orbit “One More Orbit” mission, which marked the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
Eric Phillips, Vehicle Pilot: A professional polar adventurer and guide, Phillips has completed dozens of ski expeditions to the North and South Poles since his first polar expedition in 1992. He is a co-founder of the International Association of Polar Guides and co-creator of the Polar Expedition Classification System.
Labea Rogge, Mission SpecialistRogge, a robotics researcher from Berlin, is currently pursuing his PhD in Norway. Her work ranges from directing satellite missions to studying marine robotics in the Arctic, reflecting her dedication to advancing technology in both the polar regions and in space.
“It’s amazing to be a civilian astronaut,” Mikkelsen said in an interview. “I have a history of pretty serious injuries that put me in a wheelchair for a year and then between the ages of 3 and 5 I learned to walk again. I wish I could tell that girl that she could be an astronaut.”
