The first spacecraft to orbit the Earth's poles includes a cinematographer but no licensed pilot – and the first footage is mesmerizing

The first manned spacecraft to orbit the earth’s poles has shared its first footage – but looking at the four crew members, it’s easy to see why the early footage is so mesmerizing. SpaceX’s Fram2 may be the first manned flight without a licensed pilot with prior aviation experience, but the crew also includes the first professional cinematographer to go to space, Jannicke Mikkelsen.

According to CBS News, the privately funded SpaceX Fram2 flight is the first manned crew that doesn’t include a licensed pilot, although all four of the civilian crew members spent more than a year training for the mission. Professional filmmaker Mikkelsen, who sits in the vehicle commander’s role, joins entrepreneur and adventurer Chun Wang (mission commander), artic robotics researcher Rabea Rogge (vehicle pilot), and polar explorer Eric Phillips (mission specialist and medical officer).

Aboard the Fram2, the crew has three professional cameras, including the Canon R5 C and the RED V-Raptor 8K, along with four iPad Minis and two iPhone Pro Max smartphones. During the crew’s three day, 14 hour planned orbit of the poles, the group plans to carry out 22 different projects and experiments, which includes capturing footage of the aurora from above the poles.

SpaceX shared the first footage of the Earth’s poles from orbit on Tuesday, a brief view taken from the spaceship’s windows.

Wang then shared a more detailed shot of above Antartica, footage that appears to be taken with one of the smartphones or tablets and includes Mikkelsen working with her camera in the cupola and even pretending to space walk over the window in her socks.

The third day’s footage showcases mezmerizing patterns over the poles, along with a video call made from space using Starlink satellites.

While the first footage appears to be that taken with the smartphones and tablets aboard, Mikkelsen can also be seen recording the view with her cameras. The 38-year-old Norweigean cinematrographer planned for the expedition using a virtual mockup. She also worked with NASA’s Don Petit, the astronaut behind many of the most viral photographs shot from space, to learn how to shoot while in orbit.

Mikkelsen is known for working with next-generation technology and in the most remote locations, with past work including a 360-degree documentary shot underwater with David Attenborough and working as the virtual cinematographer for Netflix’s Stowaway. “You can either seek out a new perspective, or you can create it,” she said. “In my career, I do a mixture of both. I seek to bring my camera where nobody has gone before me, and I also film in 3D to make you feel like you are there with me.”

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