Four space tourists defied gravity this week, completing a groundbreaking journey around Earth’s north and south poles before splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean on Friday. Their three-and-a-half-day trip, funded by Bitcoin investor Chun Wang, marked the first-ever crewed polar orbit and the first Pacific splashdown for astronauts in 50 years.
The crew—billed as an international dream team—included Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics expert Rabea Rogge, Australian polar guide Eric Philips, and Wang himself. They soared aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule equipped with a jaw-dropping 360-degree window, capturing sights like the "epic desert of ice" that Rogge described in awe.
Despite battling space motion sickness early on, the team recovered to conduct 25 experiments, including the first in-space medical X-rays. Their mission, dubbed Fram2, honored a legendary 19th-century Norwegian exploration ship—even carrying a piece of its wooden deck into orbit!
After their Pacific touchdown, the crew emerged grinning, pumping fists to celebrate their milestone. SpaceX confirmed the splashdown site switch from Florida to the Pacific was for safety, ensuring debris from the mission would fall harmlessly into the ocean.
This trip isn’t just a flex for space tourism—it’s a leap for science and #WanderlustGoals. Who’s ready for their *own* polar selfie?
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