SpaceX flight bankrolled by crypto investor launches first manned polar orbit

Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched a historic mission, sending four private astronauts on a journey to orbit the Earth's poles. The mission, called "Fram2," is led and funded by Chun Wang, a wealthy crypto investor and founder of the Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool. Wang, along with three others, blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, marking the first human space mission to fly over the North and South poles. The crew will spend three to five days in orbit, conducting 22 experiments to inform on human health in space and the effects of long-duration space flight. The experiments include taking the first X-ray in space and growing mushrooms. Wang, a Chinese-born Maltese entrepreneur, has not disclosed how much he paid SpaceX for the flight. The crew will circle the globe every one and a half hours, reaching the South Pole just 30 minutes after launch. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will splash down off the coast of California after the mission ends. This is the first manned space flight to orbit the Earth's poles and the first mission for SpaceX. Wang's involvement in the mission highlights the growing interest of crypto investors in space exploration.