Chun Wang, co-founder of the f2pool Bitcoin mining pool and a prominent figure in the Bitcoin community, has been selected to lead SpaceX’s first human spaceflight mission to explore Earth’s polar regions from orbit. Wang, who started mining Bitcoin in 2011, has spent the past 2.5 years preparing for the mission and has been involved in every stage of the planning process, including trajectory design and crew selection.
Named after the ship that first reached Earth’s Arctic and Antarctic regions, the Fram2 mission will be led by entrepreneur and adventurer Chun Wang from Malta, as announced by SpaceX. Wang aims to showcase the crew’s spirit of exploration, bring wonder and curiosity to the public, and demonstrate how technology can advance the boundaries of Earth exploration through research conducted during the mission.
Fram2 will be the first human spaceflight mission to explore Earth’s polar regions from orbit. Learn more about the @framonauts mission here → https://t.co/3InB5ybsIx pic.twitter.com/rZ2PCw0GlX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 12, 2024
“This mission marks a new era in space exploration,” stated Wang. “I have envisioned human missions to Mars for years, often led by NASA or fictional governments. It is rare for private entities to undertake such missions, but now I firmly believe that Mars will be reached someday by a person or a company, not just a nation.”
Allow me to quote Steve Jobs’s iPhone announcement in 2007: “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two-and-a-half years. Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.”
Yes, I’ve been looking forward to this mission…
— Chun (@satofishi) August 13, 2024
Joining Wang on the mission are adventurers from around the world, including Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, Eric Philips from Australia, and Rabea Rogge from Germany. The crew will spend 3 to 5 days observing the polar regions from Dragon’s cupola at an altitude of 425 to 450 km. They will study phenomena like auroras, STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), and conduct various research to understand the effects of spaceflight on humans, space physics, and atmospheric science.
