Posted on 03/31/2025 3:12:05 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In a mission funded and commanded by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, SpaceX said it plans a launch as early as Monday evening, marking the first crewed mission to polar orbit and the first to cultivate mushrooms as a crop in space.
The three-to-five-day flight is to be lofted into space by a Falcon 9 booster. The mission is named after the Fram, a steam-and-sail powered ship used by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen during his historic 1910-1912 expedition to the South Pole. A four-person international team will crew the Fram2 mission: Wang from Malta; Jannicke Mikkelsen a film director and cinematographer from Norway; Rabea Rogges, an electrical engineer, robotic researcher and polar scientist from Germany, and Eric Philips, a polar explorer and private astronaut from Australia.
The polar orbit means the spacecraft will circle the Earth over the North Pole and Antarctica, unlike previous missions that orbited West-to-East, roughly parallel to the equator. Although astronauts have not flown in polar orbits before, such orbits are common for satellites conducting Earth observation and mapping, weather data collection and environmental monitoring because they cover the entire planet.
"The ionizing radiation dose will certainly be higher over the poles," according to Kevin Lewis, a planetary scientist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University.
"However, the dose rate is likely only a few times higher, and for a short-duration flight wouldn't likely be a concern, outside of perhaps extreme solar flares," he explains referring to sudden, intense explosions on the Sun that can send a stream of charged particles, X-rays and gamma rays speeding toward Earth.
Among the 22 studies and experiments planned for the short mission, one will capture radiation measurements inside the Dragon spacecraft and assess individual radiation exposure levels of each crew member.
Another study, carried out on behalf of FOODiQ Global, will attempt to cultivate oyster mushrooms aboard the capsule. Space nutritionist and FOODiQ Global CEO Dr. Flávia Fayet-Moore says that while mycelium has been grown in microgravity aboard the International Space Station, Fram2 marks the first time that mushrooms will be cultivated as a crop.
Fayet-Moore refers to mushrooms as "the perfect space crop," explaining that "the way they grow and complement plant systems is really perfect for exploration missions to the moon and Mars."
Mushrooms also have a natural ability to make vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet light, "which is important for astronauts to counter bone loss in space," she says.
Oyster mushrooms were selected for study because they are resilient, easy to grow and quick to reach maturity, she says.
Fayet-Moore jokes that about 20% of people say they don't like mushrooms and that the astronaut selection criteria are already difficult enough without placing "must be willing to eat mushrooms on long-duration flights" to the list.
Liftoff for the Fram2 mission will occur from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch window opens at 9:46 p.m. ET on Monday, with additional opportunities for launch until 2:26 a.m. ET on Tuesday. If the launch is scrubbed, SpaceX may try again, beginning at 9:46 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Which are predicted for this week.
Check the space weather guys!
The customer’s always right.
Dead right sometimes. Like going to visit the wreck of the Titanic with a Game Boy controlled plastic submarine.
Is he listed in the company directory as: “Wang, Chun?”
Well if it’s Chun Wang people might think he said John Wayne.
And what kind of name is that for a cowboy?
“A three hour tour... A three hour tour!”
Hope our alien friends are ready to make it rain.
Yeah dont get me started on that sub
I’ll say. Classic case of “If you’re so rich why aren’t you smart?”
Mushroom like to eat manure. On long trips, we need to dispose a lot of compost.
He was smart. But he thought he was so smart, that he was invincible.
They knew there was only a certain number of times that body could handle going down that far. Further they never really had a way to check fatigue very well so they couldn’t gauge when the time was up for those deep trips.
I imagine it’s easier to get a date when you’re a multi-millionaire...
The launch looked great!
NASASpaceflight
1.3M subscribers
217,515 views
Streamed live 5 hours ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaMDdNAbg-A&t=11632
booster landing about 3:22:00
SpaceX launches first-ever crewed mission to orbit North and South poles: ‘Enjoy the views’
I said lunch not launch.😏.
And oldie from the 70s.
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