Private Polar Mission:
This Week in Space

Private Astronauts on a Polar Mission

On Monday, March 31, SpaceX launched a crew of four private astronauts on the first-ever crewed mission to a polar orbit—an orbit that runs perpendicular to the equator and passes repeatedly over both of Earth’s poles.

The mission is led and funded by 43-year-old Chun Wang, a Chinese billionaire currently living in Malta, who made his fortune in cryptocurrency mining. Wang also serves as the mission commander. The crew includes 38-year-old Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, a specialist in 3D imaging and augmented reality technologies; 30-year-old Rabea Rogge from Germany, a polar researcher and PhD student developing autonomous vehicles for extreme environments; and 63-year-old Eric Philips from Australia, an adventurer specializing in polar expeditions and gear development. This marks the first spaceflight for all four crew members.

The team travels aboard the Dragon Resilience spacecraft, launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX confirmed that the crew completed training at its Florida headquarters with the liftoff scheduled for March 31. The mission was designed to last three to five days, during which the spacecraft was planned to orbit at an altitude of 425 to 450 kilometers. A transparent observation dome has been installed on the spacecraft, providing the crew with panoramic views—not only for enjoyment, but also to support a series of polar-related scientific studies. Additional experiments will include research into the effects of microgravity on the human body and the first-ever X-ray imaging in space.

The mission is named Fram-2, inspired by the Fram, a Norwegian ship that explored polar regions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This marks SpaceX’s sixth private astronaut mission since launching its first in 2021. Previous missions include Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn last year, both funded and led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who is currently under consideration for the role of NASA Administrator. The other three missions were conducted in partnership with Axiom Space, which is developing a commercial space station and regularly sends private astronaut crews to the International Space Station.

Training complete, ready to fly over the poles | From right to left: Mikkelsen, Wang, Philips, and Rogge prepare for the private space mission | Photo: SpaceX

Satellites Against Wildfires

Two weeks ago, the American–New Zealand company Rocket Lab launched eight satellites for wildfire monitoring on behalf of the German firm OroraTech. These satellites are also set to orbit Earth in a polar orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers. This trajectory allows them to pass over every point on Earth every few days and collect data on wildfire spread, hotspots, and more. This launch marks the beginning of OroraTech’s plan to build a constellation of over 100 satellites, aiming to provide real-time global coverage of forest fires and related events. The initiative, called "Finding Hot Wildfires Near You," is designed to deliver timely wildfire alerts to foresters, farmers, emergency services, and others affected by fire risks.

The mission was the 63rd launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, the company’s reliable vehicle for small and medium-sized payloads. With only four failures over its eight years in operation, Electron has built a strong track record. So far in 2025, Rocket Lab has launched five successful Electron missions—all from its spaceport in New Zealand.

Short video of the “Finding Hot Wildfires Near You” launch:

"Signs of Life" on Mars?

For the first time, scientists have discovered relatively large organic molecules in Martian soil—hydrocarbon chains made up of 10, 11, and 12 carbon atoms, which  may have originated from even larger fatty acids. On Earth, such molecules are typically produced by living organisms, though they can also form through non-biological processes.

The discovery was made by researchers from NASA, in collaboration with scientists from France and other countries, who reanalyzed soil samples collected over a decade ago by the Curiosity rover from a rock dubbed Cumberland in Gale Crater.  This location was selected in part because scientists believe it once contained a lake. The sample had previously been analyzed by Curiosity’s onboard chemical lab, the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) system, which detected a relatively high concentration of small organic molecules, along with nitrates and sulfur compounds. While these substances don’t prove the existence of past microbial life, they typically form in watery environments, and their presence provided strong evidence that Gale Crater was indeed a lake for millions of years.

The new discovery came as something of a surprise. The researchers were attempting—unsuccessfully—to determine whether the Cumberland samples contained amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. They programmed the SAM system to heat part of the sample twice to high temperatures and carefully analyze the resulting compounds. While no amino acids were found, the system did detect decane (10 carbon atoms), undecane (11), and dodecane (12).  Laboratory experiments suggested these molecules may have originated from larger fatty acids. However, the SAM system wasn’t designed to detect such large molecules. 

The presence of these hydrocarbon carbon chains does not necessarily indicate life. However, researchers note that the longer the chain, the greater the likelihood that it originated from biological activity. The significance of this study lies in showing that relatively large organic molecules—even those typically formed only by living organisms—can persist for extended periods on Mars. This finding helps ease earlier concerns that such compounds might not withstand the planet’s harsh environment, including radiation, extreme temperatures, and other environmental conditions on Mars, for billions of years.

Short NASA video on the research: