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Space
Space
Science
Josh Dinner

SpaceX's Fram2 mission captures 1st human X-ray in Earth orbit

Two x-rays of hands wearing rings.

In 1895, when German physics professor Wihelm Röntgen was experimenting with cathode rays, he accidentally discovered what we know today as X-rays. Realizing the technology could benefit the medical field, Röntgen took the first ever X-ray image of the human body. It was an image of his wife's hand wearing a ring.

About 130 years later, the crew of SpaceX's private Fram2 mission has recreated that X-ray portrait — except in space. The Fram2 mission launched on March 31, carrying a quartet of passengers who would soon complete the first human spaceflight in polar orbit. The launch was funded by Maltese cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang, who enlisted three polar expedition colleagues to join him on the novel mission.

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