Elon Musk and SpaceX announce first manned space mission to Earth’s polar orbit

Elon Musk continues to develop his plan for a future where space travel is available to millions of people. His aerospace company, SpaceX, said it plans to launch a manned space mission, made up of private astronauts, before the end of the year.

The mission will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over the planet’s polar regions, according to a statement from Musk’s company.

Crew Dragon Fram2, the ship that will carry out this mission, It was named after the boat that explorers used to reach the Arctic and Antarctic regions for the first time.

The mission will be headed by Chun Wang, a businessman and adventurer originally from Malta. Wang intends this mission to awaken the public’s spirit of exploration and wonder, while demonstrating how technology can expand the boundaries of terrestrial exploration and contribute to research.

Wang will be accompanied on the journey by an international group of “adventurers.” They include Jannik Mikkelsen of Norway, the vehicle’s commander; Eric Phillips of Australia, the vehicle’s pilot; and Rabih Ruge of Germany, the mission specialist.

This will be the first space flight for all crew members.Although they are all trained to be astronauts, SpaceX has not yet revealed the cost of tickets for the mission.

Fram 2 will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and reach Earth’s polar orbit at an altitude of between 425 and 450 kilometers. During the mission, which will last between three and five days, the crew will monitor the polar regions through the Dragon Dome, to study unusual light phenomena similar to the aurora borealis.

One of the mission’s main science goals will be to study the green streaks and violet bands of persistent emission, which can be compared to a phenomenon called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). This phenomenon has been measured at altitudes of about 400 to 500 kilometers above Earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceX founder plans to transport 1 million people to Mars in the next 25 years. Similarly, in June of this year, Musk already approved a proposal to name the first city on Mars “Terminus,” an idea suggested by a user of the social network X.

Musk has stated on several occasions his ambitious goal of building a self-sufficient city on Mars using SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle.

This project, It is considered one of the most innovative in the history of space exploration by experts in the field.Its ultimate goal is to establish a colony on Mars capable of supporting itself over the long term.

Musk’s plan includes transporting a number of essential materials to Mars once the spacecraft reaches the Red Planet. These materials will include equipment and resources for infrastructure construction, power generation, mining, and propellant production, among others.

The ability to generate these resources on Mars is seen as crucial to the long-term viability of the colony. However, this goal faces many challenges, as the development of the spacecraft is still in the testing stages.

Since 2023, the vehicle has made four test flights, and only achieved success on the last one in June, when it achieved all objectives and made a soft landing in the Indian Ocean.