Australian Space Tourist Completes Historic Private Polar Flight with SpaceX

Australian Polar Adventurer Joins SpaceX’s Historic Private Flight Over Earth’s Poles

Four space tourists, including Australian polar adventurer Eric Philips, have safely returned to Earth after completing an unprecedented private spaceflight that took them over both the North and South Poles. The mission was funded by Bitcoin investor Chun Wang, who chartered a SpaceX Dragon capsule for himself and three other passengers. The capsule, equipped with a special 360-degree domed window, provided stunning views of the polar caps and the surrounding Earth.

Philips became the fourth Australian in space and the first to travel aboard a SpaceX mission. The group launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Monday evening and splashed down off the coast of Southern California on Friday morning.

The crew traveled in a unique circular orbit that passed over the poles every 40 minutes, a path never before flown by humans. This remarkable route allowed the passengers to witness Earth's icy polar regions like never before. "It’s so epic because it’s another kind of desert, stretching endlessly," said Rabea Rogge, one of the crew members, in a video shared by Wang on social media while gazing down from orbit.

While the crew initially struggled with space motion sickness, they recovered quickly and were able to open the capsule’s window cover over the South Pole on the second day of their mission.

During their three-and-a-half-day flight, Wang and his crew documented the polar regions from 430 kilometers above Earth. They also conducted medical X-rays in space for the first time and performed over two dozen scientific experiments, primarily focused on the effects of microgravity on the human body.

The mission, named Fram2 after the famous Norwegian ship that transported explorers to the poles over a century ago, was an homage to polar exploration. A piece of the ship’s wooden deck accompanied the crew on their journey.

Upon splashdown, the crew exited the capsule unaided, carrying equipment used in their medical tests to help researchers study the effects of returning to gravity. The Pacific splashdown was historic as it marked the first time in 50 years that a space crew returned to the Pacific Ocean. The last such event was in 1975 with the Apollo-Soyuz mission.

SpaceX’s decision to switch splashdown locations to the Pacific, rather than Florida, was based on safety considerations. The company explained that it ensures any remaining parts of the spacecraft’s trunk are safely dropped into the ocean.

Wang, who funded the mission, declined to disclose how much he paid for the exclusive flight. However, the Fram2 mission has been hailed as a groundbreaking achievement in private space travel and further cements SpaceX’s role in the future of commercial spaceflight.