A cryptocurrency entrepreneur has bought a private space mission from SpaceX, which is set to launch at the end of the year and be the first crewed flight over the Earth's poles.
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This mission, which is supposed to last between three and five days and carry four people, is part of the development of private space tourism, which has flourished in recent years in the United States.
Its leader, Chun Wang, is the co-founder of Bitcoin mining companies F2pool and Stakefish. SpaceX describes him as a “Maltese adventurer,” but he recently obtained that citizenship after being born and raised in China, according to the American press.
“I have been looking forward to this mission for two and a half years,” Chun Wang wrote on Xinjiang. “A new chapter in space exploration is unfolding before our eyes.”
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell tells AFP that many satellites, whether spy or weather, operate in polar orbit. But getting there requires more power, and obviously more radiation, the expert says.
So far, “the highest inclination achieved by a human spaceflight was by the Soviet Vostok 6 mission, at 65 degrees” relative to the equator, according to the mission's website, and the poles are not visible from the sky. The International Space Station (ISS).
The mission is called Fram2, after a ship used for polar exploration. It will use a SpaceX Dragon capsule equipped with an observation dome. The spacecraft will fly at an altitude of between 425 and 450 kilometers, according to billionaire Elon Musk’s company.
Agence France-Presse
The other three crew members will be Norwegian director Jannik Mikkelsen, Australian polar explorer Erik Phillips, and German robotics researcher Rabie Ruge.
Scientific observations are planned, such as taking the first X-ray images in space and studying a light phenomenon similar to the aurora borealis, according to SpaceX.
The company has already flown 13 crewed missions over the past four years. It has flown NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, but it has also flown several space tourism missions, including the first in 2021, called Inspiration4, funded by American billionaire Jared Isaacman.
“Until 2021, space missions were the preserve of governments,” Chun Wang stressed. “Then Inspiration4 came along and changed everything.”
Another private mission, Polaris Dawn, is scheduled to launch on August 26 with four crew members, including Mr. Isaacman. It should make possible the first private spacewalk.
