Aussie explorer to swap snow boots for spacesuit
Eric Philips is counting down the days until he becomes the fourth Australian to go to space, and the first Australian to fly with SpaceX.
“To this day, I’ve not felt any nerves. I don’t have any trepidation,” he tells Australian Geographic.
“I mean, there are elements, of course, that have already felt real. The training that we’ve done, the communication with the wider SpaceX family, the times that we’ve had as a crew to ponder and contemplate and talk about every element of this mission.
“But to be at that pointy end the day before and the day of sitting up there – I think the nerves will kick in then.”
When Eric speaks about his nerves kicking in “the day before” he is referring to the day before launch day when he and his fellow crew will partake in a final ‘dry run’.
“During that dry run the day before we are in our suits up on top of the platform, across the arm, and literally going into the capsule on that day. It’s going to feel particularly real,” he says.
The mission
Eric is one of a four-person crew embarking on the first human spaceflight mission to conduct observations of Earth’s North and South poles.
“Astronauts have seen parts of Antarctica and the Arctic from space, but never the very high latitudes. And indeed, there’s probably some towns and villages that have never been seen from space before that we will see,” Eric says.
While in orbit, the crew will view and capture their observations from an altitude of 425–450km, for an expected 3.5 days.
“Not only are we doing a polar orbit, but as we do this polar orbit, the Earth is rotating underneath us. So we do an orbit over a different latitude/longitude every time we fly over the Earth, so it will be doing a neat little spin underneath us as we go from pole to pole,” Eric says.
Orchestrated by SpaceX, the mission is named ‘Fram2’ – a nod to the Norwegian ship Fram, famous for its use in pioneering Arctic and Antarctic expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In addition to the mission’s polar research objectives, the crew will also collect biomedical data to help advance the human body’s capabilities for long-range space exploration.
“We’re going to be the first people to grow mushrooms in space. We’re going to be the first people to be X-rayed in space. They’re all amazing things,” Eric says.
Polar connections
Eric is no stranger to polar exploration. His long list of achievements includes skiing both North and South poles, across Greenland, and the Patagonian Ice Cap.
Now arguably the world’s leading polar guide, he is also the founder and president of the International Polar Guides Association. There isn’t much of the poles he hasn’t seen from the ground. “[But] to see it from space will be a great opportunity,” he says. “It’s [going to be] incredible.”
Eric also has a personal wish list of sights he hopes to tick off.
“I’ve steered four new routes to the South Pole – three through the Transantarctic Mountains, and one up the Support Force Glacier from the Filchner Ice Shelf. I’d love, above everything, to be able to see those from up there.”
Unfortunately, however, the light conditions at this time of year will make this difficult.
“I’m hoping that there’s still going to be some kind of twilight so that I can see this and other features of the Antarctic high polar region, but wanting this is selfishly absolutely personal for me,” he says.
“I’m flying into space. I can’t really complain what time of year I do that!
“And the advantage, of course, is that the Arctic region will be fully lit. This will be fantastic because I’ve spent as much time up there as I have in Antarctica, so I’m really familiar with most areas. I’ve got a particularly strong affinity with Svalbard, so to see that from space will just be amazing.”
Worth the wait
Originally planned to launch in late 2024, and with a few false starts in between, Eric says the set date for launch is now the final week of March 2025.
“That’s as much as I can say short of giving you an absolute date, until it’s officially announced to the public – which should be soon!”
“I’ve read a lot of books over my time to do with space travel. I’ve wanted to be an astronaut ever since I was a little kid. So how ironic that at 62 I finally get to be one!”
FAST FACTS ABOUT FRAM
THE MISSION
Fram2
THE SPACECRAFT
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
THE CREW
Mission Commander: Chun Wang (Malta)
Vehicle Commander: Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway)
Mission Pilot: Rabea Rogge (Germany)
Mission Specialist and Medical Officer: Eric Philips (Australia)
THE LAUNCH
Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
THE OBJECTIVES
1. To be the first crew to view and capture the Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit.
2. Conduct research to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-range space exploration.
THE DURATION
3-5 days
More details about the Fram2 mission are available at https://f2.com/
