Live Coverage: SpaceX's Private Fram2 Spacecraft Descends from Polar orbit
Rewritten Article:
Hop on board the thrilling space adventure of SpaceX's Fram2 mission! Four daring newbies in the astronaut game are set to descend back to Earth after a gripping four-day voyage in a unique polar orbit. The crew, led by Chun Wang, crypto mogul and mission commander, will land on Earth this Friday, April 4, at 12:19 p.m. ET, making a splash off the California coast in SpaceX's Dragon crew vehicle—a Pacific Ocean debut for crewed Dragon landings.
The Fram2 crew is gearing up for a splashdown extravaganza on Friday. They'll get out of the Dragon spacecraft independently after touchdown, offering invaluable insights to researchers about astronauts' unassisted functional skills following their space escapade. SpaceX is pulling out all the stops and live-streaming thehomecoming, dropping in on their website and social media platform, X, around an hour before the big splash.
The Fram2 mission blasted off on Monday, March 31, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, catapulting this crew of fresh faces towards realms never ventured by humans before. Alongside Wang, the motley crew includes Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian cinematographer; Rabea Rogge, a German robotics researcher; and Eric Philips, an Australian polar adventurer—all rookie astronauts, funded by Wang himself.
Space sickness was a common companion aboard the Fram2 spacecraft for the brave team. The crew fought off waves of nausea and occasional bouts of vomiting during their journey. But with unyielding determination, they sailed on to execute 22 research missions. These payloads aimed to better understand human health in space and prepare for long-duration flights, only a glimpse of which occupied the Fram2's 3-5 day odyssey.
The crew was tasked with capturing the first-ever X-ray in space, running EEG brain mapping experiments, and studying how fluid shifts in microgravity affect sugar monitors for diabetics. They also tested SpaceX's Starlink network to contact their families on Earth and conducted orbital tests for the network, using it to transmit messages. Rogge, the robotics researcher, got in touch with Berlin using an onboard amateur radio named Fram2Ham.
The Dragon spacecraft zipped over Earth's polar regions at an altitude of around 265 to 280 miles (425 to 450 kilometers), moving along a polar orbit with an incline of 60 to 90 degrees relative to the equator. Before the Fram2, the very same spacecraft—the Dragon Resilience—was the one that carried out the groundbreaking Polaris Dawn mission, which executed the first commercial spacewalk in history last year.
Some key experiments and findings by the Fram2 crew within the realm of research include:
- Mushroom cultivation in space (MushVroom): The mission sought to cultivate mushrooms as a potential option for sustainable food on long missions in space.
- X-ray imaging in space: The crew took the first X-rays of humans while in space, providing exciting possibilities for medical research in the future.
- Microgravity impact on the human skeletal-muscular system: Experiments investigated the effects of microgravity on bone density and muscle strength, critically important for future long-duration missions.
- Glucose regulation study: A continuous glucose monitor assessed glucose regulation in microgravity to understand how space travel affects metabolic health.
- Women’s Health Study: The mission included a study using the Hormona test to explore how microgravity affects women’s reproductive hormones.
Upon splashdown, the crew conducted an egress study, exiting the Dragon spacecraft on their own without immediate medical or mobility assistance. The post-landing assessment experiment simulated conditions expected in future lunar or Martian missions, focusing on crew independence and resource management.
This trailblazing mission furnishes vital insights into human health in space and the capabilities desired for extended space voyages, including sustainable food sources, advanced medical techniques, and crew adaptability in microgravity conditions. The mission's diverse approach offers valuable lessons for future space travel endeavors, a testament to the incredible strides humanity is taking in the quest to explore the cosmos.
The space adventure, SpaceX's Fram2 mission, reaches its climax this Friday with the crew splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Led by Chun Wang, the crew will independently exit the Dragon spacecraft following their touchdown, providing essential data for researchers on astronauts' unassisted functional skills after their space journey. During their mission, they conducted various experiments, such as mushroom cultivation, X-ray imaging, studying the human skeletal-muscular system, glucose regulation, and women’s health, which offer vital insights for future long-duration space missions. The historic splashdown will be live-streamed by SpaceX, marking the Pacific Ocean debut for crewed Dragon landings.
