) Four people, united by their fascination for the Earth’s remote polar regions, are embarking on an interplanetary spaceflight to allow them to experience these remote areas as no human has ever done before.

Chun Wang is a 42-year old entrepreneur and adventurer who chartered a spacecraft with SpaceX to fly a free-flier. After eight months of training he, Jannicke Mikkelsen a 38-year old cinematographer and Director, Rabea Rogge a 29-year old, arctic robots researcher, and Eric Philips a 62 year-old polar explore are undertaking a multiple-day mission dubbed “Fram2.”

On the evening of April 23rd, 2023, I was lying in bed in my hotel in Saudi Arabia thinking about the best name for the first spaceflight to orbit the poles. This was Wang’s prelaunch interview with Spaceflight Now. “I remembered the British Mars lander Beagle2,” Wang said in a prelaunch interview. I spent a lot time following this mission and others during my college days. It was named for the Beagle – the ship that took Charles Darwin around the globe in the 1830s. Then it hit me. I could also name my mission after a vessel.

I thought of Fram, a ship that aims to [explore] [both poles].

According to

The Fram Museum, the polar ship was the first “specifically built in Norway for polar research.” It sailed on three key expeditions: it drifted with the ice floes the Arctic Ocean between 1893 and 1896, to the arctic archipelago west of Greenland between 1898 and 1902 and to Antarctica from 1910 to 1912.

Like the expeditions of yesteryear, Wang wanted to bring together this collective to bring their experiences with polar exploration to bear on this mission.

“As a crew, we are eager to showcase our explorational spirit and show the world the polar regions from a new angle while also showcasing how technology helps push the boundaries of how we understand Earth and Space,” Chun said. “We’ve all dedicated our lives to exploring and sharing the polar regions with others in different ways, we have a chance to do this on a scale that no one else has ever had.”

For a mission overview, click here. Before they take to the skies, here’s an introduction to the four members of the Fram2 mission.

Chun Wang

The man behind the Fram2 mission, Chun Wang, is an entrepreneur who became fascinated with travel at a very young age. Growing up in China, he said it wasn’t until he turned 18 in 2000 and went off to university that he traveled more 172 km (107 mi) from his home.

As a kid, he imagined traveling the world, thanks to his grandparents with whom he lived during his childhood. Wang said they were the ones who taught him to read.

“In 1987, when I was 5 years old, my grandfather went for a walk and brought home a world map he had found. That map instantly became my favorite thing to play with, and it sparked my curiosity,” Wang said. “What really caught my eye was the empty space at the bottom of the map—the polar regions. From that moment, I was fascinated by the mystery and excitement of these distant and unknown places.”

Wang began really racking up travel miles when he started working for a Norwegian-owned software company in Beijing. To save money, he slept on the sofa of a French colleague or at the office and then would commute back home on the weekends, which was about 120 km (75 mi) away from the office.

“Despite having a full-time job, I traveled 75,900 km (47,162 mi) by train that year alone, using only my weekends,” Wang said. “In total, I spent two months solely in train cars in 2007, leaving work for the train station on Fridays, only returning the following Mondays.”

Wang spent the next four years expanding his travels and was able to visit every province in China by train. His first international trip came in 2010 when he visited Nepal and later India.

He said his travels took him to the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent. He hopped onboard what was then India’s longest, non-stop train ride — 16317 Himsagar Express — which took him from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and continued on his journey through the country, which he said ended up costing him about $1,000, “which was everything I had.”

“In those years, I was fascinated by infrastructure and transportation, especially railways. I meticulously recorded every train ride down to the minutes, even the seconds, and posted these records on online forums and bulletin boards,” Wang said. “Someone once gave me the nickname ‘High-Speed Rail 1000 Times Guy’ because I was counting my rides toward a goal of 1000 rides on the high-speed trains.”

Wang said that as of March 20, 2025, he rode high-speed trains a total of 854 times. His number of air flights, however, is now tantalizingly close to 1,000.

When he began planning the Fram2 mission with SpaceX, Wang also started really paying attention to the number of flights he’d logged. According to his record, his flight onboard the Dragon Resilience will be his 1,000th flight of any kind and his first to space.

Before pursuing spaceflight, Wang’s interest was in new terrestrial technologies. He first heard about personal computers when he was 7-years-old and received his first computer, a 486SX running MS-DOS 5.0 when he was 13-years-old and finished with primary school.

“I used it to write many interesting programs, besides games, one of the earliest was a gravity simulator that visualized planetary motion in the solar system,” Wang said. “At school, I participated in various programming contests, including the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) and ACM-ICPC. Instead of taking the national college entrance exam, I was directly admitted to university based on my performance in these contests.”

Wang leveraged his technology skills to co-found the Bitcoin mining company, f2poool in 2013. He said a year after its start, they became “the largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world.” While that distinction is now held by Foundry USA, according to Luxor Technology’s Hashrate Index, f2pool is still the fourth largest Bitcoin mining pool.

Wang said that while they’ve been able to mine 1.3 million Bitcoins over the past decade, his interest in cryptocurrency and Bitcoin has “shifted” over time.

“Now, I find myself drawn to another new and emerging field—the field I have been interested in since childhood —- space,” Wang said. “Since SpaceX began recovering Falcon 9 boosters, the commercial space industry has been advancing at an incredible pace. Once again, I see something new and exciting unfolding, similar to the feeling when I first heard about computers and first discovered Bitcoin.”

From Bitcoin to blastoff

The seeds of the Fram2 mission were born through Wang’s global travels as he continued to push further and further towards the poles. He said he felt a drive to “push the boundaries of how far in longitude and latitude I could go.”

“In 2006, I reached the border with Kazakhstan at 82°E to the west. In 2011, I traveled to India’s southernmost tip, reaching 8°N to the south,” Wang said. “In 2012, I took the Trans-Siberian Railway to Europe, arriving in St. Petersburg at 60°N, 30°E. In 2013, I went to Kamchatka, reaching 160°E to the east, then finally in 2016, I traveled to the United States for the first time.

“In December 2021, I reached the South Pole, and again in July 2023, the North Pole—there are no further points left to push the boundary on Earth anymore, which makes space an exciting frontier to explore.”

Wang said as he considered what a spaceflight crew would look like, it was important to gather a group together that didn’t include any Americans. Fram2 will be the first flight of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft without any representation from the United States, which he was intentional.

“In 2004, when I volunteered as a Wikipedia editor, I spent a lot of time working on space related articles, including a list of space-faring countries—those countries with at least an astronaut flown into orbit,” Wang said. “When I selected this crew, I intentionally made the crew diverse to represent the open future we hope to see for space exploration.”

When it came to who to include on this mission, Wang said first and foremost was to ensure that there was someone from Norway since Fram is a Norwegian ship. That’s how Mikkelsen, a Norwegian cinematographer and film director, came to mind.

“Jannicke and I are neighbors when I am in Svalbard, and given her past experience on ‘One More Orbit,’ she is probably one the best fit for this mission,” Wang said.

The other two crew members, Rogge from Germany and Philips from Australia, were folks who Wang met while on a ski expedition in Svalbard in April 2023.

“Eric has been to the North Pole and South Pole for perhaps 30 times, while Rabea has worked on a CubeSat project,” Wang said. “Both of them love space and have polar experience, so we’re a great team connected by our connection to Svalbard and are excited to represent a place we love during the mission.”

Wang said following the Fram2 mission he wants to stay involved with space and hinted at what he has his eye on next.

“Once Starship becomes operational, it will open up unprecedented possibilities for private space travel and Mars won’t be just a distant dream,” he said. “Considering the vast possibilities, I think it’s time to start saving money…”

Jannicke Mikkelsen

Sitting in the seat reserved for a commander of a Dragon spacecraft is Jannicke Mikkelsen. The 38-year-old is an award winning cinematographer and film director who was hailed by the European Commission as “an innovator in next-gen film production.”

She was also called a “monument” in virtual reality filmmaking by the lead guitarist of Queen, Brian May, who is also an astrophysicist. Mikkelsen received a Master’s degree in cinematography from the National Film and Television school in the United Kingdom.

Highlights of her professional career include serving as the director, director of photography and stenographer on the VR concert film, “Queen + Adam Lambert: VR the Champions.”

“I’ve been very fortunate to work with legends such as Brian May and to call him my mentor. He taught me that inspiration is born through renewed perspective!” Mikkelsen said. “You can either seek out a new perspective, or you can create it. In my career I do a mixture of both. I seek to bring my camera where nobody has gone before me, and I also film in 3D to make you feel like you are there with me.

“To make it possible to bring a camera with me I must innovate because the technology we have available today is insufficient for the challenge ahead. My dream is to take you with me on our Fram2 space mission for you to experience our mission and see planet Earth as we will.”

Mikkelsen, who grew up in Longyearbyen, Norway, said she has long been interested in filming in extreme environments. She said she likes the challenge and promise held in going to extraordinary lengths to get a shot.

“Few venture out into the uncomfortable to explore our planet. To operate in extreme environments takes years of preparation, innovation, and physical training to succeed,” Mikkelsen said. “At large, few seek, or have access to extreme environments. And as we know, out of sight is out of mind. I see it as my duty to show you the most beautiful, yet vulnerable environments on our planet.”

Part of that sense of duty is connected to why she runs. She and her fiancé, Rolf-Harald Haugen, are planning to run both the Spitzbergen marathon and the Berlin marathon even though she hates running.

“I run because I hate running and it’s uncomfortable. Discomfort spawns growth. I will never take my ability to run for granted,” Mikkelsen said. “I spent five years learning to walk, run and jump after a horse riding accident when I was ten years old. To not run would be to do my body and brain a disservice.

“I was given the gift of a second chance at life. I will live my life forever exploring and building my body to carry me where I want to go next.”

Ultimate adventure

Mikkelsen says it’s a huge point of pride for her to be the first professionally trained cinematographer to head to space. As someone who enjoys pushing the boundaries of what’s possible she said she was “honored” to accept the challenge offered by Wang.

“One of our mission objectives is to film the Arctic and Antarctic,” she said. “(It’s) a responsibility I don’t take lightly as the first humans in history to view Earth’s poles from space.”

Mikkelsen is working with her production company, O2XR, to help capture the best views of both the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis for future scientific study. They’ve done extensive work in an attempt to leave as little to chance as possible.

“My team at O2XR and I have planned out every shot from space in detail by using a virtual mockup of our capsule in our orbit,” Mikkelsen said. “This lets me virtually look out the Dragon windows and cupola, film with a virtual camera and attach all my virtual lenses to see what the image will look like when we are in orbit.”

While on orbit, Mikkelsen said she plans to use an array of lenses and cameras, including Canon R5C and the RED V-Raptor 8K.

“Yes I can confirm we have the capability to shoot 180-VR and 8K. VR is a way for you as the viewer to first hand experience our spaceflight,” she said. “The quality will be like joining our four person crew and living with us in Dragon orbiting around Earth.”

When she launches to space, she will also become the first Norwegian astronaut.

“I live on the archipelago Svalbard and am proud to represent the Arctic as part of our crew,” Mikkelsen said. “Beyond being the Vehicle Commander, my job is to document our record breaking space mission to inspire the next generation of astronauts.”

During a discussion on the mission over X’s live audio streaming platform, Spaces, Mikkelsen said she has been collaborating on in-space photography techniques with one of NASA’s most renowned photographers, astronaut Don Petit.

“He’s been testing out a few camera settings for me and verifying that the hypothesis is correct,” she said.

She said beyond documenting the multi-day trip, she’s most excited to help open the door to space for those who haven’t been involved in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.

“I am just really honored that I am not a STEM-educated person. I have a Master’s in cinematography. Even if it’s a very technical subject, it’s still considered art and I’m honored to represent the non-STEM educated in space and flying my film camera,” Mikkelsen said. “I am so proud to be the first educated cinematographer in space. And I am stepping up to the challenge.”

Rabea Rogge

The youngest member of the Fram2 crew is Rabea Rogge. Hailing from Berlin, Germany, the 29-year-old is taking a pause from pursuing a PhD to take part in this mission to space.

Originally, she was taking a pause from her studies to conduct a trip to Antarctica, but didn’t imagine that flying to low Earth orbit was going to be on the docket.

“I am very humbled that Chun has invited me to this mission of a lifetime,” Rogge said.

The mission isn’t the first time that space or interest in polar regions became a part of Rogge’s life. She started her PhD in Norway with a focus on decision making for autonomous boats in polar waters.

“I find it fascinating how the rules change when conditions get hostile, with wind, waves and ice – it is already hard for us humans, so how should an autonomous agent know how to take the right path of action?” Rogge said.

Her work with space began when she took part of a student team that set out to design and build a satellite intending to induce artificial gravity by spinning. The satellite also carried human cells onboard in order to observe “the effects of aging in different levels of microgravity.”

“We were a team of novices in the beginning and knew nothing of satellites – it was incredibly inspiring to see how far we got within one year of hard work, making mistakes and getting up and going again,” Rogge said. “We went from nothing to already having tested a prototype on a parabolic flight and winning the ESA competition.

“We often got told that our plans were too ambitious in the beginning, which only encouraged us more to go forward. It showed me how important perseverance and risk taking is and how much you can contribute to the New Space sector with a great team.”

First German woman in space

Rogge’s involvement in the historic mission came about through a happenstance meeting. She and Eric Philips met Wang while training for a ski expedition in Spitsbergen and they all bonded over their love of “technology, future visions and space technology in general.”

“We are all very interested to see where technology is headed and how it can be pushed to improve our lives even more,” Rogge said. “I was leading the satellite team at that time, so I would not stop talking about space missions and overly ambitious plans.”

During and after the mission, Rogge said she will focus on three main goals. The first two goals are focusing on enabling and communicating quality science to the public and connecting with the broad public through various outreach projects.

“As a researcher I know that we are usually not very good at explaining what we are doing and am excited to change that,” Rogge said. “In this early time of spacefaring, it is our responsibility to share the experience and take people on the journey with us. I am most looking forward to an amateur radio competition and an aurora citizen science project that we have going on from space.”

Her final main goal is to provide an example of how human spaceflight can and should become more accessible and inclusive.

“We are the first ever crew without a licensed pilot onboard and our success will continue to make these missions accessible to a larger group of people,” Rogge said. “By progress in the spacecraft being autonomous, less requirements are put on the pilot.

“If we want to become an interstellar civilization we need as much data as we can about living in space, which means broader access to space. We are not quite there yet, but I would love for awareness to spread on how fast the situation is changing – and for this to empower people to take part in the rapid changes.”

Beyond the human spaceflight aspect, Rogge said there’s important polar research that will hopefully be aided by their mission. She pointed to the Aurora project, which involves simultaneous imagine of the auroras from space and from the ground by dozens of observers.

“We have a great team at the university in Svalbard, led by Katie Herlingshaw, working on establishing a citizen scientists network and common database around the world, Ragee said. “For this mission they are studying a specific phenomenon within the Aurora, but the real power lies in establishing this common ground for any future investigation into the physics of the atmosphere. I am very excited to see the results!”

Rogee is also breaking ground in her own right. She will become the first German woman to travel to space. Alexander Gerst, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut who served as commander of the space station during Expedition 57 and also represented Germany,

wrote to Rogge on X to wish her luck and a safe landing.

Rogge said she’s not spending too much time thinking about her place in history, but said she’s “honored to be representing my home city, Berlin, and Germany in space.”

“With Fram2 we want to inspire people to dream big, so I really hope that this effect will be felt in Germany and empower the next generation of spacefarers, engineers, scientists and artists!”

Eric Philips

The fourth member of the Fram2 mission is 62-year-old Australian polar explorer, Eric Philips. On his personal website, he describes himself as a “polar adventurer,” which he said goes back to his time as a kid when his parents started taking him and his five siblings to southern Australia.

“I’ve dedicated much of my life to untracked areas of the Arctic and Antarctica including pioneering four glacial routes to the South Pole,” Philips said. “Much of my polar career has been as a guide, taking relative novices into areas previously the domain of professional explorers, a direct extension of my previous occupation as an outdoor educator. Adventure is its own reward and it has made me who I am.”

Philips is the founder and director of the company Icetrek Expeditions and Equipment and has more than 30 years of experience in polar environments. He focuses on Svalbard, Norway, because it is “a snapshot of everything polar, including extreme cold, ice and snow, frozen mountains and fjords, glaciers, polar bears and the aurora.”

“It’s important that people’s engagement with the natural world is experiential, seeing and doing things first-hand,” Philips said. “When such things are taken to their full potential they unlock scientific and geographical mysteries, and keep alive the very spirit of exploration and adventure that catapulted humankind into the Age of Enlightenment.”

Like Rogge, Philips first met Wang during a ski expedition in 2023. Being a part of this space expedition is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

“Yes, like many kids I dreamed of being an astronaut. Even as an adult these musings never left me so for this to become a reality in my sixties is the embodiment of a mantra I reserve for prospective polar adventurers: ‘Dream big. Live bigger. Begin!’” Philips said.

“The point here is that I never stopped living bigger and the chance to become an astronaut befell me, not because of luck but because of life choices. Space exploration is an iteration of the frontier days of polar exploration, when explorers on board ships such as Fram carved routes towards and beyond unknown horizons.”

Historic elevations

The Fram2 mission will be the highest inclination for a crew launch in history. He said getting to experience parts of the Earth he’s explored dozens of times on the ground from space will be a highlight of his career.

“I’ve viewed thousands of images of Antarctica and the Arctic while planning polar expeditions, but there is no experiential evidence that what we observe in those images is truly representative of how they look from space with human eyes,” Philips said. “To be among the first people to see these high latitudes from low earth orbit is an exquisite privilege and I truly believe will be a transformational experience.”

Beyond some of the new feats that will be executed with this mission, Philip said he’s also looking forward to furthering knowledge of the return from space as well. Part of this will come through the execution of an unassisted egress from their Crew Dragon spacecraft.

“More and more, crews returning to Earth or landing on Mars will become increasingly self-reliant when climbing out of a spacecraft,” Philips said. “After Dragon splashes down and is hoisted onto the recovery ship, the Fram2 crew will demonstrate an unassisted egress – releasing restraints, emerging from their seats, unloading mock emergency equipment and exiting through the hatch.”