SpaceX's private Fram2 crew returns to Earth after polar-orbiting mission

Washington: Four private astronauts returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule on Friday, after roughly four days orbiting Earth in a novel polar trajectory, capping the Elon Musk-led company's sixth fully private space mission.

Since launching Monday night from Florida, the four-person crew, led by and paid for by Maltese investor Chun Wang, traveled in a circular orbit around Earth from pole to pole, a particular orbit no humans have flown before.

During the mission, they conducted 22 research experiments largely focused on how the human body changes in microgravity.

The four-person crew included three of Wang's friends and associates: Norwegian film director Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher and polar scientist Rabea Rogge, and Australian adventurer Eric Philips.

Their Crew Dragon capsule tighted its orbit around Earth Friday morning and splashed down hours later off the coast of California around noon EDT (1600 GMT).

SpaceX and its Dragon craft have dominated the nascent market for private orbital spaceflight, an area in which a key source of demand originally came from a small field of wealthy tourists. Dragon is the world's only privately built capsule routinely flying missions in orbit. Rival Boeing's Starliner capsule has been held up in development.