A historic launch is set to take place this Monday night from Kennedy Space Center, marking the first time a crewed mission has orbited Earth’s poles. The Fram2 mission, led by mission commander Chun Wang, will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The crew of four astronauts, including arctic explorer Eric Philips and two women, Jannicke Mikkelsen and Rabea Rogge, will embark on a three to five-day journey around the North and South poles. This mission is the first human spaceflight to achieve this feat in over 64 years.
The launch window opens at 9:46 p.m. EDT, but SpaceX is targeting 11:20 p.m. for liftoff. The crew will fly in a 90-degree circular orbit, with the Falcon 9 flying straight south over Miami and Cuba after liftoff. This rare instance of a polar launch from Florida could provide good rocket views in south Florida.
The mission aims to break records in human spaceflight and gather valuable data on health experiments, including the first X-ray image of the human body off-planet. The crew will also conduct research on accessibility to space, team dynamics, and the effects of microgravity on the human body.
This mission is privately funded by Chun Wang, a cryptocurrency businessman, who was inspired by Jared Isaacman’s Inspiration4 mission. The Fram2 mission will make history as the first crewed Dragon mission to splashdown on the West Coast.
Source: https://eu.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/spacex/2025/03/29/spacex-astronaut-mission-fram2-to-launch-dragon-falcon-9-florida-kennedy-space-center-monday-night/82687464007