The latest private space mission has launched four astronauts into a sideways orbit that has never been attempted before with a crewed spacecraft. At 9:46 pm EDT, the Fram2 mission lifted off atop a Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Fram2, named after the famous polar exploration ship Fram, is not the first privately funded and conducted spaceflight but it is historic because it has accomplished something that no other crewed space mission has done. Using a chartered SpaceX Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 launcher, the crew of four lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. However, instead of flying in the direction of the Earth’s rotation to gain more momentum, it turned due south.
What’s significant about this is that most crewed missions have followed orbits inclined to the equator at an angle between 28.5° and 51.6°. The largest inclination in history was in 1963 when the Soviet Vostok 6 mission with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel to space, aboard reached an inclination of 65°, or about that of Fairbanks, Alaska. That record has now been broken as Fram2 reached an inclination of 90°, or at right angles to the equator.
The result of this is that the Dragon capsule will pass over the North and South Poles 55 times over a span of three to five days and, if it remained in space long enough, would pass over every point on the globe as well.
Though polar orbits have been used by many satellites, especially those designed for military reconnaissance, there are reasons why a crewed flight hasn’t been attempted until now. For one thing, a polar orbit requires more fuel than an equatorial one. In addition, the Earth’s equatorial bulge causes frequent gravitational perturbations that shift the orbit, there’s more atmospheric drag when going over the poles, and reentry is a much more complex operation.
Along with this, Fram2 will also face higher exposure to cosmic radiation because the craft will move out the Earth’s magnetic field over the poles, there is rapid temperature variation because there are sudden jumps from sunlight to darkness, and problems with communications because the polar regions aren’t very well covered by ground stations.
The crew of Fram2 consists of Mission Commander Chun Wang, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips. During their stay in space, they are expected to conduct a series of experiments, including the first anatomical X-rays taken in space, sending television images to ham radio enthusiasts, and the first cultivation of mushrooms in space.
However, there will be no fry up of the mushrooms in orbit, which is a pity because they’re oyster mushrooms and quite delicious when sauteed in clarified butter with a generous dash of coarse salt. I suppose they’d need toast as well and that would complicate things.
According to SpaceX, the Dragon spacecraft has flown Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station (ISS); Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit; and Polaris Dawn, the first commercial mission to conduct a spacewalk. The first stage booster has now flown six times and was recovered with a powered landing on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
“After extensive training and dedication from our entire crew, we are honored to continue the legacy of the Fram name in an exciting era of commercial space exploration,” said Chun Wang, Mission Commander prior to launch. “We are thankful for this opportunity, and we are grateful to SpaceX for making this mission a reality – we are excited to be the first crew to view and capture the Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit and support important research to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration.”
Source: SpaceX