SpaceX Dragon capsule arrives at Space Station with precious cargo
October 10, 2012
Dragon spacecraft at ISS (credit: NASA)
A privately built robotic space capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Oct. 10) to make the first-ever commercial cargo delivery to the orbiting lab under a billion-dollar deal with NASA, Space.com reports.
The unmanned Dragon spacecraft was captured by station astronauts using a robotic arm after an apparently flawless approach by the cargo-laden space capsule, which was built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX. It is the first of 12 resupply flights SpaceX will fly for NASA under a $1.6 billion deal.
SpaceX launched the Dragon spacecraft into orbit on Sunday (Oct. 7) atop a Falcon 9 rocket (also built by the company) from a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It is expected to spend at least three weeks linked to the space station and be filled with nearly 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of experiment results and station gear for the return trip to Earth.
Comments (10)
by trakk
If this is the first unmanned space flight, then its a huge event. I wonder why there isnt more news about it on other sites.
by trakk
Oops….the mars rover dint come to mind :)
However since this one is carrying cargo, its a huge deal too.
by Lord Penguin
Most spaceflights are unmanned. Manned missions, especially beyond Earth, are rare occasions.
by J.D.
Keep in mind… there are something like six months of urine samples in that return cargo… Odd thing… but this DOES allow the crew complement to be upped back to nominal (six) and perhaps expanded.
But I want to know what the NEXT phase of operations is for the ISS, now that it is fully built and we can readily resupply????
by melajara
There was a time when Steve Jobs was an inspiration for me, it was when he presented the NeXT for empowering people. Alas, the same man concentrated later on gadgets for milking the consumer, albeit very convincingly judging from AAPL market cap.
Elon Musk is even more a role model as he succeeded in every company he founded, each one being more ambitious than the precedent. I see Tesla as the only success story in the EV marketplace (contrast it with e.g. Fisker).
Now, SpaceX is on track for targeting Mars, Musk grand ambition.
Or maybe Agent 007 will stop Musk before, I hope not!
I always found Bond’s devilish opponents much more interesting people than Bond himself. They built things when 007 just destroyed everything to ensure a lame status quo, LOL
Besides, AFAK, Musk is no devil at all, maybe just a bit too lavish in his personal spending, but, hey, he is only 40 years old, what a tycoon ;-)
by Bri
At first I thought the two thousand pounds of return cargo would be trash! Nice to see them be successful. Now we finally have a replacement for the shuttle. Still way too expensive. Hopefully the price will come down a bit, with more frequency.
by DeBee Corley
Precious cargo indeed. Ice cream!
by JC
They even succeeded after a violent engine malfunction. Amazing and inspiring!
by Ed Kug
What an amazing day for mankinds leap into outerspace
we can now rely on man’s creative energies to explore the Heavens!
One exciting day in our quest for discovery and advancement of our civilization
by GatorALLin
…well said…….