Four space travelers come back to Earth following a polar expedition on a private flight

Four space travelers who circled the north and south poles came back to Earth on Friday, landing in the Pacific to conclude their privately funded polar journey. Bitcoin investor Chun Wang booked a SpaceX flight for himself and three others in a Dragon capsule equipped with a domed window that offered 360-degree views of the polar caps and surrounding scenery. Wang refused to disclose the cost of the three-and-a-half-day trip.

The group, who launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday evening, landed off the coast of Southern California. It marked the initial human spaceflight to orbit the Earth over the poles and the first Pacific splashdown of a space crew in half a century.

Wang, originally from China and now a Maltese citizen, welcomed Norwegian director Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics expert Rabea Rogge, and Australian polar guide Eric Philips, each of whom presented breathtaking views during their journey.

Mikkelsen filled the capsule with camera gear and dedicated much of her time to shooting.

Wang reported that all four experienced space motion sickness after entering orbit. However, when they awoke on the second day, they felt great and opened the window cover located directly above the South Pole, he shared through X.

In addition to capturing images of the poles from 430 km above, Wang and his team performed the first medical X-rays in space as part of a study and conducted several other scientific experiments. They titled their journey Fram2, named after the Norwegian sailing vessel that transported explorers to the poles over a hundred years ago. A small piece of the original ship’s wooden deck traveled with the crew into space.

SpaceX announced that its choice to change splashdown locations to Florida starting with this flight was driven by safety considerations. The firm stated that Pacific splashdowns will guarantee that any remaining fragments of the trunk — discarded towards the end of the flight — land in the ocean.

The final individuals to come back from space to the Pacific were the three NASA astronauts tasked with the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.