Latest news with #EricPhilips
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Australian astronaut didn't expect space to ‘affect me so emotionally'
Space flight has been revolutionised by private companies rocketing amateur astronauts into outer space. Earlier this year Australian Eric Philips was gifted one of these out-of-this-world opportunities. 7.30's Mike Lorigan reports.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Australian polar adventurer turned astronaut Eric Philips takes part in historic SpaceX mission
Sitting under the night sky at Eric Philips' home in Victoria's high country, it is hard not to feel close to the cosmos. "The stars are always alluring and the place of dreams, right?" he said. "If anywhere you can let your imagination run wild it's up there, but for me it's no longer imagination. "That's the bizarre thing, it's reality now." Mr Philips is no stranger to extreme environments. As one of the world's leading polar experts, he and friend John Muir were the first Australians to ski to both the North and South Poles. When 7.30 caught up with him he had just returned from his boldest adventure to date – private space travel. Mr Philips became the first Australian to fly into space under the Australian flag as part of a chartered SpaceX mission in early April. The mission was privately funded and commanded by former Chinese national Chun Wang, a crypto billionaire, now a citizen of Malta, who Mr Philips guided on a ski trip in the Arctic Circle in 2023. "It's the most phenomenal tip a client could give me." Mr Wang purchased the chartered spaceflight from Elon Musk's SpaceX for an undisclosed figure. Mr Philips has described Mr Wang as a "denizen of the universe". "He considers himself nomadic because he travels the world, visiting every country that he can and is a Bitcoin entrepreneur, that's how he made his money in order to pay for this mission," he said. The mission, titled 'Fram2' after an early Norwegian polar research ship saw the crew become the first humans to complete an orbit of the North and South Poles. Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen and German polar scientist Rabea Rogge were also on board the 'Dragon' capsule. "It is an autonomous craft. Everything is planned by SpaceX, by ground control, mission control. It's uploaded into the system of the Dragon capsule and it will do everything from launch through to splashdown," Mr Philips said. After a year of training the crew launched from the historic Cape Canaveral in Florida on April 1. Their launch took them beyond the Kármán line, the boundary line 100 kilometres above sea-level where the atmosphere ends and outer space begins. "It's the most immersive experience you could possibly imagine." During the three-and-a-half-day mission in microgravity the crew completed 55 orbits of Earth. "You see all of Earth, all of Earth below you … you can turn around in that dome and you are seeing the entire horizon," Mr Philips said. "That feeling, I knew that would be profound in some way but I didn't know that it would affect me so emotionally. "Looking at Earth from that perch and knowing that we have a pretty rough history of treating our planet the way we do, and with the current bickering and squabbling amongst our people down on Earth, that if everyone could have the opportunity to see this incredible planet from above, I think it would give people much more perspective over their lives and how we should treat our fellow citizens and the Earth itself." While hurtling around the planet the crew conducted 22 research projects designed to pave the way for human long-haul space flight, including the first X-ray in space and the first attempt at growing mushrooms. "There's a big push at the moment to get to Mars and perhaps to build a Mars colony and for humans to inhabit that, so these research projects all contribute to this next phase of human life," Mr Philips said. Despite being in a hostile environment, Mr Philips said at no point did he feel close to death, except for when their spaceship re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. "Then you feel gravity start to take over and you are plummeting down to Earth at more than 500kph in absolute freefall," he said. After a successful splashdown off the coast of California, the crew of Fram2 accomplished one final piece of history, becoming the first astronauts to complete an 'unassisted egress', an exit of the spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance. Just days after Mr Philip's mission another group took to the sky with private space company Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos. An all-female crew, which included his fiancee Lauren Sanchez and pop singer Katy Perry, spent 11 minutes above the Earth. Space travel is currently extremely expensive for both civil and private space agencies, but Mr Philips believes it will become more accessible. He said SpaceX is developing a craft that will take hundreds of people into space. "You can literally board that spaceship like you board an Airbus or a Boeing aircraft and fly internationally. That is in the not-too-distant future, and I can certainly see that happening," he said. "That will ultimately bring the cost down and make space travel available to a wide group of people." Now aged 62, Mr Philips said his celestial experience with SpaceX has ignited his passion for the universe. "There is no question that I look at the night sky now from a different perspective and an acute longing to be back up there, it was such an intoxicating experience," he said. "If I had the opportunity to go back tomorrow, I would take it." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX's private polar space trip returns to Earth
The four crew members of the private Fram2 mission returned to Earth on Friday after spending more than 3 1/2 days circling the planet on the first human spaceflight on a polar orbit. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience made a parachute-assisted splashdown off the California coast at 9:19 a.m. Pacific time. The mission launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Monday night. Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, now of Malta, paid an undisclosed price for the jaunt to space and a unique view of some of the same places in the Arctic and Antarctica to which he had trekked by land. He brought along friends and fellow adventurers Eric Philips of Australia, Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway and Rabea Rogge of Germany — all of whom had experience exploring the Arctic. The California landing was a first for a SpaceX Crew Dragon, although cargo versions of the spacecraft had previously returned off the Pacific Coast before SpaceX moved operations to Florida. The company made the decision last year, though, to switch back to the Pacific. The move was made for safety reasons after several incidents were reported of debris found on land determined to be remnants of the propulsion module that detaches from Dragon before splashdown. While the Fram2 mission was a private endeavor, the crew performed 22 research experiments during the trip including taking the first X-ray in space. The capsule was brought up onto one of SpaceX's recovery vessels less than 30 minutes after landing with interior cameras showing the quartet giving fist bumps to one another and taking selfies. The four exited the spacecraft within an hour of landing with minimum assistance — part of SpaceX's investigation into crew capabilities for future missions to places like Mars where a recovery crew wouldn't be available. The return to gravity still made for a few stumbles getting out the hatch, but the four got to their feet all smiles before being escorted away for medical checks. This marked the completion of Resilience's fourth trip to space after having debuted on NASA's Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station in 2020. That was followed by the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn private missions paid for by billionaire and likely next NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. It's the only Crew Dragon to be outfitted with something other than a forward-facing docking hatch, since its last three flights including this one had not required meeting up with the space station. Instead, on both Inspiration4 and Fram2, SpaceX installed a nearly 4-foot-wide domed cupola window to allow for 360-degree views while in orbit. On Polaris Dawn, that was switched out for the Skywalker apparatus that let Isaacman perform the first commercial spacewalk. SpaceX has flown 66 people into space aboard its fleet of four Crew Dragons on 17 missions since 2020. A fifth Dragon is under construction. The next mission is slated to be the private Axiom Space Ax-4 taking a short trip to the space station with liftoff no earlier than May. After that, SpaceX has the Commercial Crew Program rotational crew mission Crew-11 targeting mid-July to fly up and relieve the Crew-10 mission that arrived to the station last month. _____
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Private polar space trip set to return to Earth today
SpaceX is set to return to Earth today the four crew of the private polar Fram2 mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center on Monday night. The Crew Dragon Resilience is targeting splashdown off the California coast at 12:19 p.m. EDT (9:19 a.m. PDT) after spending more than 3 1/2 days circling the planet on the first human spaceflight on a polar orbit. Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, now of Malta, paid an undisclosed price for the jaunt to space getting a unique view of some of the same places in the Arctic and Antarctica to which he had trekked by land. He brought along friends and fellow adventurers Eric Philips of Australia, Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway and Rabea Rogge of Germany. 1st day in space filled with nausea for SpaceX's private polar mission crew The California landing is a first for a SpaceX Crew Dragon, although cargo versions of the spacecraft had previously splashed down off the Pacific Coast before SpaceX moved operations to Florida. The company made the decision last year, though, to switch back to the Pacific. The move was made for safety reasons after several incidents were reported of debris found on land that were determined to be remnants of the propulsion module that detaches from Dragon before splashdown. While the Fram2 mission was a private endeavor, the crew performed 22 research experiments during the trip including taking the first X-ray in space. Their landing will also feature the four exiting the spacecraft without any assistance if all goes to plan. Private SpaceX mission launches humans on 1st polar orbit This marks the completion of Resilience's fourth trip to space after having debuted on the Crew-1 mission the International Space Station in 2020 followed by the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn private missions paid for by billionaire and likely next NASA administrator Jared Isaacman. It's the only Crew Dragon to be outfitted with something other than a forward-facing docking hatch, since it's last three flights including this one had not required meeting up with the space station. Instead, on both Inspiration4 and Fram2, SpaceX installed a cupola window to allow for 360-degree views while on orbit. On Polaris Dawn, that was switched out for the Skywalker apparatus that let Isaacman perform the first commercial spacewalk. SpaceX has flown 66 people in space aboard its fleet of four Crew Dragons on 17 missions since 2020. A fifth Dragon is under construction. The next trip is slated to be the private Axiom Space Ax-4 mission taking a short trip to the space station with liftoff no earlier than May. After that, SpaceX has the Commercial Crew Program rotational crew mission Crew-11 targeting mid-July to fly up and relieve the Crew-10 mission that arrived to the station last month.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
‘Perfect space crop': Australian company to attempt to grow first mushrooms in orbit
An Australian company will attempt to be the first to grow a crop of mushrooms in space, aboard SpaceX's Fram2 mission set to launch in early April. In an experiment aboard Fram2, the first human spaceflight mission to orbit Earth's polar regions, the Australian firm FOODiQ Global is aiming to grow oyster mushrooms in microgravity. Launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Fram2 mission is planned to last between three and five days. The mushroom experiment will be conducted on the last day by the Australian adventurer Eric Philips. Phillips will be only the fourth Australian-born person to go to space, after Dr Paul Scully-Power and Dr Andy Thomas, who flew for Nasa as US citizens, and Dr Chris Boshuizen in 2021, whose suborbital journey aboard a Blue Origin vehicle lasted about 10 minutes. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email FOODiQ Global's chief executive, Dr Flávia Fayet-Moore, described mushrooms as a 'perfect space crop', citing their fast growth, ability to be eaten raw and nutritional value. 'Because we don't have technology to process food in space yet … Nasa is currently prioritising research into 'grow, pick and eat' crops – things like lettuce, tomatoes and mushrooms,' she said. Mushrooms are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, which increases when they are exposed to ultraviolet light. 'They double in size every day,' Fayet-Moore said. 'They don't need a lot of inputs: they don't need any special fertilisers, they don't need a lot of water.' 'They also have potassium that's found in vegetables, but then they also have selenium and copper, which are typically found in nuts and seeds,' she said. 'It's a very versatile example of a nutrient-dense food.' Food and nutrition for lunar and Mars missions numbers among the top 30 priorities in Nasa's list of civil space challenges. It is not the first time fungi have been sent to space. Last August, an Australian experiment led by Swinburne University astrophysicists Dr Sara Webb and Dr Rebecca Allen sent vials containing lion's mane, turkey tail and Cordyceps to the International Space Station. The vials contained mycelia (root-like networks of fungi) but did not have adequate space for mushrooms (the fruiting bodies of the organisms) to grow. Aboard Fram2, if the mycelia fruit into oyster mushrooms, Philips will be responsible for documenting mushroom growth, crop yield and signs of contamination. Upon return to Earth, FOODiQ Global will analyse the mushrooms' nutritional content to see how microgravity affected their growth, comparing the results to control kits stored in Florida.
