CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —
The private company SpaceX made history Friday with the docking of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, the most impressive feat yet in turning routine spaceflight over to the commercial sector.
It marked the first time a business enterprise delivered a supply ship to the space station.
“There’s so much that could have gone wrong and it went right,” said an elated Elon Musk, the young, driven billionaire behind SpaceX.
“This really is, I think, going to be recognized as a significantly historical step forward in space travel — and hopefully the first of many to come.”
SpaceX still has to get its Dragon back next week with a load of science gear; the retro bell-shaped capsule is designed to splash down into the ocean, in the style of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. But Friday was the crucial step, Musk noted, and NASA agreed the next SpaceX mission could come as early as September.
After a three-day flight from Cape Canaveral, the Dragon closed in on the space station as two control centers — NASA in Houston and SpaceX in Hawthorne, Calif. — worked in tandem. A problem with the capsule laser-tracking system prompted SpaceX controllers to order a temporary retreat, but the problem quickly was resolved.
NASA astronaut Donald Pettit used the space station’s 58-foot robot arm to snare the gleaming white Dragon as the two craft soared 250 miles above Australia, a day after a practice fly-by.
“Looks like we’ve got us a dragon by the tail,” Pettit announced once he locked onto Dragon’s docking mechanism.
NASA’s dressed-up controllers applauded. In contrast, their SpaceX counterparts — including Musk — lifted their arms in triumph and jumped out of their seats to exchange high fives.
The company’s youthful-looking employees — the average age is 30 — were still in a frenzy when Musk took part in a televised news conference a couple hours later. They screamed with excitement as if it were a pep rally and chanted, “E-lon, E-lon, E-lon,” as the 40-year-old Musk, wearing a black athletic jacket with the SpaceX logo, described the day’s events.
Alcohol was banned from the premises during the crucial flight operation, Musk noted, “but now that things are good, I think we’ll probably have a bit of champagne and have some fun.” The crowd roared in approval.
Although cargo hauls have become routine, Friday’s linkup was significant in that an individual company pulled it off. That chore was previously reserved for a small, elite group of government agencies.
Not only that, the reusable SpaceX Dragon is designed to safely return items, a huge benefit that disappeared with NASA’s space shuttles. It is the first U.S. craft to visit the station since the final shuttle flight last summer.
Local News
Dragon makes history with space station docking
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