Fram2 Astronauts Splash Down After Historic Polar Spaceflight

International four-person crew returns after nearly four days flying a 90-degree polar orbit and observing Earth’s poles from orbit for the first time.

Jack Daleo

Friday, April 04, 2025 at 04:50 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the international Fram2 crew deploys its parachutes for splashdown after a successful polar orbit mission. [Courtesy: SpaceX]

Key Takeaways:

The Fram2 mission, a private SpaceX flight with four civilian astronauts, successfully completed the first crewed mission to orbit directly over Earth's poles.
The crew orbited Earth approximately 55 times over nearly four days, achieving the highest inclination ever by a crewed spacecraft and observing polar phenomena like STEVE.
Primarily a research mission, the "Framonauts" conducted 22 experiments on long-duration human spaceflight effects, including growing mushrooms and taking X-ray images in space.
The mission, purchased by crypto entrepreneur Chun Wang, concluded with a safe splashdown off the California coast, marking a rare West Coast Dragon recovery.

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The first astronaut crew to fly directly over Earth’s poles splashed down safely on Friday after nearly four days on orbit.

Civilian astronauts Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Rabea Rogge, and Eric Phillips—the international crew of SpaceX’s private Fram2 mission—landed around 12:19 p.m. EDT and exited their SpaceX Dragon capsule without assistance, allowing researchers to study how the effects of spaceflight impact their ability to perform functional tasks. Wang, a crypto entrepreneur, purchased the intended three-to-five-day mission from SpaceX in August.