SpaceX's Fram2 mission launches civilian crew into first flight around Earth's poles

Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched four private astronauts into space on a mission to orbit Earth from pole to pole, something that's never been done before.

The Fram2 mission led by Chun Wang, a Chinese-born Maltese crypto billionaire, lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday local time.

The crew will orbit for 3 to 5 days, conducting over 20 experiments on how space affects the human body.

The members also plan to take the first X-ray in space and grow mushrooms in microgravity.