Fram2 launches four private astronauts on Crew Dragon into the first crewed polar orbit

SpaceX/Dragon

SpaceX's Fram2 mission launched on March 31 from Cape Canaveral with four first-time astronauts—Chun Wang (commander), Jannicke Mikkelsen, Rabea Rogge, and Eric Philips—in a Crew Dragon to reach a near-polar orbit of approximately 90 degrees inclination. The four-day mission conducted research including the first x-ray in space and microgravity mushroom cultivation, concluding with a splashdown off California.

• Four private astronauts: Wang (mission commander, entrepreneur), Mikkelsen (Norway), Rogge (Germany), Philips (Australia).
• Launch 9:46 p.m. ET from LC-39A Kennedy Space Center; polar inclination ~90.01 degrees (first crewed polar orbit).
• Mission duration ~4 days; research: first x-ray in space, muscle/skeletal exercise studies, mushroom growth in microgravity.
• Splashdown off California coast on April 4 (planned Friday date); historic polar spaceflight achievement.