SpaceX is preparing to launch its Fram2 mission, which will send a crew of four astronauts into polar orbit. The mission, named after the Norwegian ship Fram, will be the first to fly astronauts in such a steep orbital inclination, providing a novel perspective of Earth's polar regions.
The crew includes Maltese entrepreneur Chun Wang (mission commander), Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway (vehicle commander), Eric Philips of Australia (vehicle pilot), and Rabea Rogge of Germany (mission specialist). All four are spaceflight rookies.
A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft no earlier than March 31 from Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Resilience spacecraft, previously used for the Polaris Dawn missions and NASA's Crew-1 mission, has arrived at the launch site for mating with the Falcon 9 booster.
Fram2 will be SpaceX's seventh private astronaut mission. During the three-to-five-day mission, the crew will conduct research experiments, including studies on microgravity's effects on the human body and the first X-ray image of a human in space. They will also observe the STEVE phenomenon and view Earth through a cupola window providing a 360-degree perspective.