Updated June 12, 2012 The world watched as SpaceX’s Dragon capsule was grappled to the International Space Station on May 25 by the robotic Canadarm 2 before being berthed. The event was celebrated as a huge success and a step towards commercial crew capability. But was it? “In the event that the crew needs to leave for some reason, you [...]
Post Tagged with: “Berthing”
Dragon Capsule in Los Angeles
On June 5, the barge carrying the returned SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived in the port of Los Angeles, California, where the capsule was lifted off. Dragon will be transported to SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas facility for analysis and refurbishment. Staff WritersMore Posts
Dragon Splashes Down
At 8:42 AM PST, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. It has completed its historic mission as the first commercial craft to dock with the International Space Station. “I think it really shows that commercial spaceflight can be successful,” said Elon Musk, CEO, Chief Designer, and founder of SpaceX. “This mission worked for the first [...]
Historic Commercial Docking With ISS Complete
At 12:02 PM EST, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule was successfully docked and securely bolted to the International Space Station’s Harmony node. Although the Dragon’s mission in not yet over, everyone was in a mood to celebrate following the historic first commercial docking in space. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden called ISS to congratulate the crew on a job well-done, while SpaceX founder [...]
The Shot Heard Around the World: Dragon Docks With the ISS
The SpaceX Dragon unmanned spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station today, Friday 25, 2012, setting a milestone never before realized in spaceflight. That milestone being that in a mere ten years, a private company began operations and developed a capsule and launch system that has now sent the same reverberations throughout the world as the beginning of the [...]
Dragon Capsule Docking Still in Question
According to Ria/Novosti, the Russian space agency Roscosmos denied SpaceX the permission to dock to the International Space Station in its next COTS demonstration mission, to be launched in November. The agency reported a statement of Alexei Krasov, head of the human spaceflight department of Roscosmos: ”We will not issue docking permission unless the necessary level of reliability and safety is [...]
