Fram2 is a planned private human spaceflight mission, operated by SpaceX on behalf of entrepreneur Chun Wang. During the mission, the 16th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, Wang and his all-civilian crew — Jannicke Mikkelsen, Eric Philips and Rabea Rogge — will be propelled into a polar orbit, a first for a human spaceflight mission. During the three to five-day mission, the crew says they will conduct scientific research.[2][3]
Crew
The crew of Fram2 was announced in August 2024.[4][5]
Named Fram2 in reference and succession to the polar exploration ship Fram, the mission is intended to study the Earth's poles and their space environment. It will be a free-flight mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, without docking to a space station. Initially spacecraft Endurance was selected for this flight because it shares the name with Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic exploration vessel. But it was later decided to fly this mission with Resilience due to changes in the crew dragon manifest. This mission will be equipped with the panoramic cupola attachment that first flew on Inspiration4. The mission is scheduled for March 2025.[1] It will launch from Florida, either from the LC-39A launch pad at Kennedy Space Center or the SLC-40 pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The mission will enter a low Earth orbit (between 425 and 450 km (264 and 280 mi)) with a polar inclination (90°), allowing it to fly over both of Earth's poles. It will aim to observe and study aurora-like phenomena such as STEVE and green fragments and conduct experiments on the human body, including the first X-ray of a human in space.[3]
