SpaceX's historic Fram2 mission returns today: How to watch live
What's the story
SpaceX's historic Fram2 mission, the first-ever crewed mission to orbit Earth over the poles, is returning today. The Crew Dragon capsule called Resilience will splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Southern California at 12:19pm EDT (9:49pm IST). You can catch the moment live on SpaceX's website and X account, with coverage starting about an hour before the scheduled landing.
Crew profile
Meet the crew and their mission
The Fram2 mission launched on March 31, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew includes Chun Wang, a Maltese cryptocurrency billionaire who funded and commands the mission; Norway's Jannicke Mikkelsen as vehicle commander; Germany's Rabea Rogge as pilot; and Australia's Eric Philips as mission specialist and medical officer. The Fram2 mission marks the first crewed flight to traverse Earth's polar regions.
Scientific endeavors
Fram2's scientific contributions during orbital mission
During its time in orbit, the Fram2 mission has been performing 22 science experiments. One of them is MushVroom, which seeks to grow mushrooms in space for the first time. This is SpaceX's 17th crewed mission overall and sixth flown for private customers, with previous missions mostly involving trips to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
Strategic change
SpaceX's strategic shift in splashdown location
Notably, Fram2 will be SpaceX's first astronaut mission to land in the Pacific Ocean. All previous missions have splashed down off Florida. This strategic shift is designed to minimize the risk of Crew Dragon's expendable trunk debris damaging property or injuring people during reentry, representing a major change in SpaceX's approach to mission landings.