(Photo: ABC News)

Eric Philips, legendary Australian explorer, successfully launched into space yesterday! Eric has been on more than 30 expeditions to the North and South Pole. He has also pioneered four routes to the South Pole itself, including the Support Force Glacier and the Reedy Glacier. We’ll be travelling up the Support Force on the way to the Pole, and down the Reedy on the other side.

Eric’s mission is set to last four or five days. His capsule, launched on the SpaceX Dragon rocket, is currently orbiting the world across its polar axis. He and his fellow crew-mates are currently at an altitude of 267 miles, with each orbit taking about 46 minutes! You can track their orbit on Zero Six Zero. This mission is being led by Maltese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang.

Eric is also joined by Janice Mikkelsen, a Norwegian film director and cinematographer, Rabea Rogge, a robotics researcher. While in orbit the crew plans to view and photograph Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit. They will also conduct 22 experiments focused on “advancing human health and performance in space, particularly for future long-duration missions”. They will be the first mission to take x-rays of the human body in space. They will also grow mushrooms in microgravity and study atmospheric phenomena.

Ben had the pleasure of meeting Eric at the South Pole in January 2023 after both completed their expeditions to the Pole. Indeed, this was when Eric opened the Support Force route, which inspired Ben to work towards this current expedition.