Wednesday, April 02, 2025

Orbital Views of Antarctica | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Orbital Views of Antarctica | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Fram2 Mission Commander Chun Wang: "Hello, Antarctica. Unlike previously anticipated, from 460 km above, it is only pure white, no human activity is visible."

The Fram2 Mission's crew are the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi). Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica.

Mission Objectives
During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. Throughout Fram2’s time on-orbit, the crew are planning to take the first x-ray in space, perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit. 

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 6 minutes
Release Date: April 2, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Antarctica #Arctic #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

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