NASA / SpaceX
SpaceX is making final preparations to bring home the Fram2 crew, which launched to orbit in a private mission on Monday.
The Crew Dragon and its four crewmembers will splash down off the coast of California on Friday, marking the first Crew Dragon mission to land in the Pacific Ocean
Up to now, the Crew Dragon capsules have landed off the coast of Florida, but to eliminate risks on the ground involving fragments of the trunk section that jettisons from the spacecraft during descent, SpaceX has decided to switch the landing zone to the Pacific.
SpaceX actually used the Pacific for the first uncrewed Dragon supply missions, but switched to the East Coast in 2019.
How to watch
The Fram2 mission’s Crew Dragon is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at about 9:20 a.m. PT (12:20 p.m. ET) on Friday, April 4. The crew’s homecoming will be livestreamed on SpaceX’s X account, with the broadcast starting an hour before splashdown.
More about the mission
Sponsored by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, Fram2 is the first-ever crewed mission to take a polar orbit.
The crew comprises Wang, Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German roboticist Rabea Rogge, and Australian polar adventurer Eric Phillips.
While in orbit, the Fram2 crew is carrying out more than 20 experiments focused on advancing scientific understanding of spaceflight, which could prove useful for future missions. They include radiation measurements, mushroom cultivation in microgravity conditions, and observing polar light phenomena like auroras. While some experts have questioned the mission’s scientific merit, Fram2 demonstrates the potential for innovative commercial ventures to contribute to long-term space exploration goals.
Travling around 270 miles above Earth’s surface, the crew has already been sharing dramatic imagery captured from the Crew Dragon’s cupola window. Wang has also shared social media posts explaining how he and his fellow crewmembers felt a little rough as they adjusted to the microgravity conditions during their first day in orbit.
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