A Chinese-born entrepreneur named Chun Wang blasted into space on March 31 on a historic SpaceX mission — the first human spaceflight to cross over both the North and South Poles. Wang is also the co-founder of the Bitcoin mining company f2pool.
The mission, known as Fram2, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a Falcon 9 rocket, following an unprecedented orbital trajectory in human space travel’s sixty-four years.
Wang privately financed the three-and-a-half-day journey, the cost of which is not yet known. As reported, Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics specialist Rabea Rogge, and Australian polar guide Eric Philips accompanied him.
All three will perform a 270-mile-high polar orbit around the planet, allowing the capsule to pass around Earth every ninety minutes, including a forty-six-minute jaunt pole to pole.
According to the reports, no human has previously traversed beyond 65 degrees latitude in either hemisphere. This mission not only breaks that boundary but also carries out over two dozen scientific experiments, including the first X-rays of humans in space.
The team is also said to be camera-equipped to document the flight, a salute to science and filmmaking. Once the capsule reached orbit, SpaceX Launch Control radioed to the team, saying, “Enjoy the views of the poles. Send us some pictures,”
The idea for the mission was pitched in 2023 by Wang. He had characterized the journey as a personal milestone and a part of broader efforts to make access to space more available and less out of reach for more people.
“Today, we become the 681st humans to fly above the Kármán line, and the 626th to orbit the Earth,” was shared by Wang on X.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $84,261.37, up by over 3% in the last 24 hours, as per Kraken’s price feed.
