First crewed mission to a polar orbit!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2025-04-01, 01:46 | |
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| | Scheduled for (local) | 2025-03-31, 21:46 (EDT) | | Mission | Fram2 | | Launch site | LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | | Booster | B1085-6 | | Landing site | A Shortfall of Gravitas | | Dragon | Resilience C207-4 | | Mission Commander | Chun Wang π²πΉ π°π³ | | Vehicle Commander | Jannicke Mikkelsen π³π΄ π¬π§| | Pilot | Rabea Rogge π©πͺ | | Mission Specialist Medical Officer | Eric Philips π¦πΊ |
Webcasts
| Stream | Link | |
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| | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70gWmwbQos | Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTByEfLhRug | NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaMDdNAbg-A | Everyday Astronaut | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXRxbdD21ds | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn8fR2CGviI | SpaceX | https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1906870902467469816 | The Space Devs | https://www.youtube.com/@thespacedevs/videos
Stats
Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:
βοΈ 8th launch from LC-39A this year
βοΈ 17 days, 2:43:02 turnaround for this pad
βοΈ 103rd landing on ASOG
βοΈ 430th Falcon Family Booster landing, 443rd Falcon recovery attempt
βοΈ 37th Falcon 9 mission this year, 455th overall
βοΈ 37th SpaceX mission this year, 471st (excluding Starship flights)
βοΈ 39th SpaceX launch this year, 488th overall (including Starship flights)
Mission info
Fram2
Named in honor of the ship that helped explorers first reach Earthβs Arctic and Antarctic regions, the mission commander will be Chun Wang, an entrepreneur and explorer who co-founded f2pool and stakefish. The vehicle commander will be Jannicke Mikkelsen, a film director and cinematographer. The vehicle pilot will be Rabea Rogge, a robotics researcher from Berlin, currently pursuing her PhD in Norway. The final crew member will be mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips, a professional polar adventurer and guide who has completed ski expeditions to the North and South Poles.
Fram2 will launch into a 90Β° circular orbit from Florida, making it the first human spaceflight to fly over Earthβs polar regions from low-Earth orbit. To date, the highest inclination achieved by human spaceflight has been the Soviet Vostok 6 mission, at 65Β°. The Dragon capsule used for this mission will feature a cupola to allow for observations and will orbit at an altitude of 425 β 450 km.
During the 3-to-5-day mission, the crew will study green fragments and mauve ribbons of continuous emissions comparable to the phenomenon known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), which has been measured at an altitude of approximately 400 - 500 km above Earthβs atmosphere, among other studies. The crew will also work with SpaceX to conduct a variety of research to better understand the effects of spaceflight on the human body, which includes capturing the first human x-ray images in space, Just-in-Time training tools, and studying the effects of spaceflight on behavioral health, all of which will help in the development of tools needed to prepare humanity for future long-duration spaceflight.
