Chun Wang to Jannicke Mikkelsen: Meet SpaceX's Fram2 astronauts set to orbit Earth's poles

Four private astronauts are about to orbit the Earth from pole to pole following the successful launch of SpaceX's Fram2 mission. 42-year-old entrepreneur and adventurer Chun Wang chartered a free-flier mission with SpaceX aboard the Dragon Resilience spacecraft. He is set to embark on the multi-day mission alongside Jannicke Mikkelsen, a 38-year-old cinematographer and director; Rabea Rogge, a 29-year-old, arctic robotics researcher; and Eric Philips, a 62-year-old polar explorer.

Opening up about the name of the spacecraft, Wang told Spaceflight Now in a prelaunch interview, “On the evening of April 23, 2023, I was in Saudi Arabia, lying in my hotel bed, thinking about the perfect name for the world’s first spaceflight mission to orbit the poles. I recalled the British Mars lander, Beagle2. I had spent a lot of time following that mission, among others, during my college years. It was named after the Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin around the world in the 1830s. That’s when it hit me. I could name my mission after a ship, too.

Wang added, “I thought of Fram, the ship aiming to [explore] both poles.”

Meet the four astronauts

Wang is a cryptocurrency speculator who was born in Tianjin, China, but now hails from the Mediterranean island country of Malta, having recently become a citizen. He met his fellow crew members while living in Svalbard. Wang, who has visited more than 100 countries the past few years, calls himself a “nomadic,” according to CNBC. He told the outlet, “I’ve been interested in space from a very young age … and for the first time, a private person can plan and design their own very personal mission.”

Mikkelsen is the mission's vehicle commander. He is a Norwegian film director and cinematographer who specialises in next-generation technology for filming in hazardous and remote environments, such as the Earth’s poles.

Berlin-born Rogge is a robotics researcher who will serve as Fram2's pilot. The first female German astronaut, she is also an electrical engineer and polar scientist. She studied in Zurich and specialises in arctic robotics.

Philips, who will serve as Fram2's mission specialist and medical officer, is a professional polar adventurer and guide from Australia. He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for achievements in polar exploration back in 2004. He is the co-founder and former president of the International Polar Guides Association (IPGA) and co-creator of the Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme (PECS).

Meanwhile, Wang said in a press release, according to ABC News, "After extensive training and dedication from our entire crew, we are honored to continue the legacy of the Fram name in an exciting era of commercial space exploration. We are thankful for this opportunity, and we are grateful to SpaceX for making this mission a reality – we are excited to be the first crew to view and capture the Earth's polar regions from low-Earth orbit and support important research to help advance humanity's capabilities for long-duration space exploration."