Posted on 05/25/2012 8:45:26 AM PDT by mandaladon
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station for a historic docking Friday, captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm.
It succeeded in making the first commercial delivery into the cosmos.
U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit used the space station's 58-foot robot arm to snare the gleaming white Dragon after a few hours of extra checks and maneuvers. The two vessels came together while sailing above Australia.
"Looks like we've got us a dragon by the tail," Pettit announced from 250 miles up once he locked onto Dragon's docking mechanism.
"You've made a lot of folks happy down here over in Hawthorne and right here in Houston," radioed NASA's Mission Control. "Great job guys."
NASA controllers clapped as their counterparts at SpaceX's control center in Hawthorne, Calif. — including SpaceX's billionaire maestro, Elon Musk, of PayPal fame — lifted their arms in triumph and jumped out of their seats to exchange high fives.
This is the first time a private company has attempted to send a vessel to the space station, an achievement previously reserved for a small, elite group of government agencies. And it's the first U.S. craft to visit the station since the final shuttle flight last July.
The astronauts wasted no time getting the Dragon capsule into position for actual docking to the space station. The unmanned capsule is carrying 1,000 pounds of supplies on this unprecedented test flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I think there are 3, but yes it's good to see some new blood. The old big commercial concerns that have launched most satellites are too slow and set in their ways to do things quickly and cheaply.
That seems to be the difference between firm fixed-price contracts and cost plus contracts.
/johnny
That does seem to be the case. Thanks Johnny.
BTW, thanks for mentioning there are three. Great.
Uh oh. Space X is doomed...Obama is in da house.
Obama is the anti-Midas. Everything he touches turns to s#it.
Today, young people don't have jobs for life. They have careers for life, and move from job to job, following what they love and, of course, the money.
The guys at Space-X obviously don't have an investment in building an empire. Hell, their control center is commercial computers on office tables.
Overhead stuff, like fancy consoles, adds up, and doesn't add value to getting something launched.
/johnny
LOL! that pic is taken at the USAF Station in Florida. You don't think Space-X is dumb enough to invite him to their facility do you?
/johnny
Well said. Extremely well said...
For my money it would be sweet if the first person to land on Mars OWNS it.
Talk about an ego boost. You own the Portland Trailblazers? Hah! I own a friggin' planet. Suck it!
Today was the day that Obama's vision of the American space program was declared a triumph. Look for the MSM to make a big deal of this while our shuttles are now museum pieces.
Dream on. This is all Obama BS. He has destroyed our space program. Folks like Neil Armstrong have been very critical of Obama’s vision for our space program. This has nothing to do with free enterprise. It is a scam and part of crony capitalism.
Civilization: The West and the rest is a new show on public television that explains why free enterprise and competition is the reason why the Western World has become the leader and the Eastern world stayed stagnant.
Did my heart a world of good to watch that. That's the real America.
No worries, J. The human race will do what it's always done, and will one day own the stars. Like you said, it's in our genes to go bigger, better, farther. Space X is only just the start.
North American/Rockwell was the prime contractor for the shuttle.
Where were they in funding, designing, operating, and making history today? On the sidelines, because it wasn't big-gov cost plus contract.
I'm glad the old way of doing things is going away. It had it's place, and we stand on the shoulders of giants, but big, ancient aerospace companies can't deal with today's world.
/johnny
I’m sure there are lots of politics and blah, blah, blah involved.
But to tell the truth, I was so excited about this. The government being out of things maybe the best thing that ever happened. (Much to Barry’s consternation)
Move over rover..let SpaceX take over...no pun intended.
4/2011 Russian Resistance to SpaceX Dragon Docking
“We will not issue docking permission unless the necessary level of reliability and safety is proven,” said Alexei Krasov, head of the human spaceflight department of Roscosmos. “So far we have no proof that those spacecraft duly comply with the accepted norms of spaceflight safety.”
http://news.discovery.com/space/russian-resistance-to-spacex-dragon-docking-110427.html
Of course, it was Russia who stood to gain by blocking SpaceX.
Safety? That's odd, as they seemed to have little regard for safety prior to this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX
” In 2006, NASA awarded the company a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract to design and demonstrate a launch system to resupply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). On 9 December 2010, the launch of the COTS Demo Flight 1 mission, SpaceX became the first privately funded company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft. On 22 May 2012, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried the unmanned Dragon capsule into space, marking the first time a private company has sent a spacecraft to the space station. The unmanned, cone-shaped capsule became the first privately built and operated vehicle to ever dock to the orbiting outpost”
I’m so glad Obama had the foresight to award this contract in 2006.
.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.