The first civilian astronauts to orbit the Earth's polar region have shared a breathtaking view of Antarctica's pristine "pure white" tundra in a historic video captured from space.
On Wednesday morning, four space travelers aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule filmed the stunning footage, showcasing the desolate, snow-covered landscape of Antarctica from an altitude of approximately 285 miles, reports NDTV.
Chinese-born crypto billionaire Chun Wang, 43, took to X to share the video with a caption that read, "Hello, Antarctica. Unlike previously anticipated, from 460 km above, it is only pure white, no human activity is visible."
The breathtaking six-minute video showcases the continent's vibrant landscape. In the footage, Mr Wang's fellow space travellers can be heard congratulating him on this remarkable achievement.
The captivating footage was taken through the Dragon's Cupola, a unique, all-glass dome on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, offering astronauts stunning 360-degree views of space and Earth. In a playful moment, Mr Wang placed his sock-clad feet on the cupola's window and began walking up and down, with the vibrant, cloudy, and snowy landscape drifting in the background. Jokingly, he referred to this as a "spacewalk," sending the crew into fits of laughter.
The Fram2 mission marks the first time humans have traveled directly over the Earth's poles from space. This unique trajectory, which requires significantly more fuel than traditional equator-hugging flight paths, will allow passengers to witness the North and South Poles from a perspective previously unseen by even International Space Station astronauts, whose orbit is approximately 51.6 degrees. Notably, none of the passengers on board the Fram2 mission have prior space travel experience.
In addition to Mr Wang, the other crew members are Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, Rabea Rogge from Germany, and Eric Phillips from Australia.
The Fram2 mission is expected to last between two to four days, during which the crew will conduct over 22 experiments and observe the polar regions from low Earth orbit. After completing their mission, the Resilience spacecraft will perform a deorbit burn, marking a first for SpaceX's crewed missions, and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission's flight program is designed for 86 hours, with a scheduled return to Earth on April 4.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
