SpaceX launches first manned mission to fly over Earth's poles

SpaceX on Monday launched the first manned mission to fly directly above the Earth's polar regions. It is a private mission with a crew of four astronauts.

The mission dubbed "Fram2," after a famous 19th-century Norwegian ship destined for expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, is set to last three to five days.

The nighttime liftoff of a powerful Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk's company received cheers in the flight control room as it began its journey toward Earth's North and South poles.

The crew departed at 9:46 p.m. ET Monday aboard a Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The astronauts are expected to perform a series of vital experiments for longer missions including the first X-ray shot in space and growing fungi in microgravity.

"With the same pioneering spirit as early polar explorers, we aim to bring back new data and knowledge to advance the long-term goals of space exploration," said mission commander Chun Wang.

Wang, a Chinese-born Maltese adventurer and co-founder of cryptographic companies f2pool and Skatefish, chose the remaining crewmembers: vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian filmmaker; German pilot and robotics researcher Rabea Rogge; and mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips, an Australian polar expeditionary.

The team trained for eight months for a trip of about four days, which included an expedition to Alaska to simulate living in confined spaces in harsh conditions.

Upon returning to Earth, the crew will attempt exiting the spacecraft without additional medical support as part of a study to understand how well astronauts can perform basic tasks after spaceflight.

Earth's polar regions have been out of sight for astronauts, including those aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Apollo lunar missions did not pass directly over these regions.

SpaceX has flown five private missions to date, three in collaboration with Axiom Space to the ISS, as well as two free orbital flights.

The latter were chartered by e-commerce billionaire Jared Isaacman, close to Musk and nominated by President Donald Trump to be the next chief administrator of NASA.