4 space tourists splash down after traveling an orbit never attempted before
SpaceX has completed another milestone in its commercial spaceflight program with the safe return of the Fram2 mission. The crew of four space tourists splashed down off the coast of California at 12:19 p.m. ET (9:19 a.m. PT), marking the company’s first-ever West Coast landing in its five-year history of human missions.
What set this mission apart was its groundbreaking orbit, which took the crew directly over both the North and South Poles — a path never before attempted by humans in spaceflight history.
Financed by cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang, the Fram2 mission featured a week of free-flying around Earth. During their journey, the crew conducted various research activities, including photographing auroras from space and documenting the effects of motion sickness in microgravity.
SpaceX livestreamed the splashdown and recovery, highlighting another step forward in space tourism and private orbital missions.