Fram2 will be the first polar-orbit human spaceflight mission to explore Earth. It will launch into a 90° circular orbit to the south from Florida, making it the first human spaceflight to fly over Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit.
The North and South Poles are invisible to astronauts on the International Space Station, as well as to all previous human spaceflight missions except for the Apollo lunar missions but only from far away. To date, the highest inclination achieved by human spaceflight has been the Soviet Vostok 6 mission, at 65°. This new flight trajectory will unlock new possibilities for human spaceflight.
Statement from Geir O. Kløver, Director, Frammuseum
It is an honor and appropriate that the first vessel to orbit the poles is named Fram2 after Fram, the strongest wooden ship ever built. In 1893-96 Fridtjof Nansen led his crew onboard Fram farthest north and in 1910-12 Roald Amundsen captained Fram farthest south on his way to conquer the South Pole. In 2025 we will celebrate the centennial of Roald Amundsen flight towards the North Pole in the Dornier-Wal flying boat N25.
The Fram Museum look forward to follow the Fram2 mission, to learn more about the scientific results of the expedition and to view what must be amazing footage of the poles from space. We hope to feature the results and footage from the Fram2 expedition in our planned new building dedicated to the issues facing the future of the Polar Regions.
The crew:
Jannicke Mikkelsen, vehicle commander.
Mikkelsen is a Norwegian award-winning film director and cinematographer who specializes in movie productions using next-gen technology. Jannicke has developed a niche working in hazardous environments on film productions in the arctic, underwater, aviation and space.
Her innovation highlights include working with wildlife pioneer David Attenborough to shoot the first 360 documentaries underwater, film director for the legendary rock band Queen’s 3D-360 live music video, Guinness World Record holder of the fastest circumnavigation of Earth via the North and South Pole while live-streaming to 55 million viewers from 43,000 feet, and virtual cinematographer for Netflix’s sci-fi thriller
“Stowaway” starring Anna Kendrick.
Mikkelsen is the recipient of the first ever European Society of Cinematographers Award for Extraordinary Technical Achievement, in 2017 she was named one of Norway’s most influential woman in tech, and in 2019 one of UK’s most influential women in tech.
Eric Philips, pilot
Philips has lead expeditions to the four biggest ice caps in the world and has been, with his fellow citizen and companion John Muir, the first Australian to reach both the North and South Pole on skis.
Born in April 1962, he studied at the University of South Australia from which he received a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Outdoor Education. During his young years, he was the director of Outdoor Education on the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School.
In his early thirties, he rushes headlong into his first big challenges. In 1995, he succeeds in crossing Greenland for the first time, using skis, power kites and a kayak, from Ammassalik to Kangerlussuaq. A film came out of this adventure: “Chasing the Midnight Sun” which was awarded the Emmy Award. A few years later, he used his experience to cross the Patagonian ice cap; he also crossed the Spitzberg cap (2008), the Icelandic glaciers (2003) as well as the Ellesmere Island glaciers (1992).
In 1996-97, Philips worked as a field education officer at the Mawson Australian station (Antarctica) for the Australian Antarctic Division.
Chun Wang, mission commander
Wan is the co-founder and administrator at F2Pool and founder of stake.fish, one of the largest validators of cryptocurrency.
He is currently halfway through visiting every country/territory in the world.
Rabea Rogge, mission specialist
Rogge is a PhD candidate in the Department of Marine Technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her doctorate thesis is in data-driven navigation, guidance and control for autonomous surface vehicles in harsh conditions.
She previously received a Masters of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
Fascinated by extreme environments, she has studied them to understand the limits of our world — and to push beyond them, whether that is space by taking the technology lead of a satellite mission, the ocean by taking direct action for marine conservation at sea or the Arctic by preparing for a Greenland crossing in 2025.
More about the mission
The crew plans to observe Earth’s polar regions at an altitude of 425–450 km. At this altitude, Dragon will fly from the North Pole to the South Pole in just 46 minutes and 40 seconds, exactly 30 times faster than the One More Orbit mission did in 2019, when crew member Jannicke Mikkelsen and her team circumnavigated the Earth in a Gulfstream G650ER and set the Guinness World Record.
Throughout the 3-to-5-day mission, the crew plans to observe Earth’s polar wilderness through Dragon’s cupola, leveraging insights from space physicists and citizen scientists to study unusual light emissions resembling auroras.
Photo credit: https://f2.com/
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 Earth’s atmosphere.
The crew will also work with SpaceX to conduct a variety of research to better understand the effects of spaceflight on the human body and developing tools to prepare humanity for future long-duration spaceflight, from capturing the first human x-ray images in space to Just-in-Time training tools to the effects of spaceflight on behavioral health.
FRAMtid – The Fram Museum’s planned new building on the future of the polar regions.
Sources: https://f2.com/, http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum35/HTML/001201.html, https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/norske-jannicke-mikkelsen-skal-til-verdensrommet-1.17000355, https://www.spacex.com/