Astronauts enter SpaceX supply ship
(AP) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.
NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, the first one inside the docked capsule, said the Dragon looks like it carries about as much cargo as his pickup truck back home in Houston. It has the smell of a brand new car, he added.
"I spent quite a bit of time poking around in here this morning, just looking at the engineering and the layout, and I'm very pleased," Pettit said from the brilliant white compartment.
To protect against possible debris, Pettit wore goggles, a mask and a caver's light as he slid open the hatch of the newest addition to the International Space Station. The complex sailed 250 miles above the Tasman Sea, just west of New Zealand, as he and his crewmates made their grand entrance. The atmosphere was clean; no dirt or other particles were floating around.
"This event isn't just a simple door opening between two spacecraft — it opens the door to a future in which U.S. industry can and will deliver huge benefits for U.S. space exploration," the Space Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group, said in a statement.
SpaceX Dragon capsule makes historic space station arrival
SpaceX Dragon capsule flies by space station
SpaceX cargo ship blasts off to International Space Station
The California-based SpaceX — formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — is the first private company to send a vessel to the space station. It's run by Elon Musk, a billionaire who helped create PayPal and founded the electric car company Tesla Motors.
Now that the space shuttles are retired, NASA is handing over orbital delivery work to American business in order to focus on bigger and better objectives, such as getting astronauts to asteroids and Mars. The space agency hopes astronaut ferry trips will follow soon; SpaceX contends its Dragons could be carrying space station astronauts up and down within three or four years.
Flight controllers were ecstatic to be at the cusp of this new commercial era.
"It's great to see you guys inside Dragon. It looks great," Mission Control radioed.
SpaceX.com
Commercial Crew & Cargo (NASA)
The six space station residents have until the middle of next week to unload Dragon's groceries and refill the capsule with science experiments and equipment for return to Earth. Unlike all the other cargo ships that fly to the orbiting lab, the Dragon is designed for safe re-entry. It will be freed on Thursday and aim for a Pacific splashdown.
The Dragon contains 1,000 pounds of food, clothes, batteries and other provisions. It will bring back 1,400 pounds' worth of gear.
Until now, only major governments have launched cargo ships to the space station. Russia, Japan and Europe will keep providing supplies, and Russia will continue to sell rocket rides to U.S. astronauts until SpaceX or other companies are ready to take over. Several American enterprises are competing for the honor.
Pettit noted that the Dragon — 19 feet tall and 12 feet wide — is roomier than the Russian Soyuz spacecraft he rode up in.
"Flying up in a human-rated Dragon is not going to be an issue," he assured reporters during a news conference.
The unmanned bell-shaped capsule was launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Pettit used the space station's robot arm Friday to snare the craft.
During Saturday's news conference, Pettit played down his role in the historic event. He noted that the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, which opened up America's Western frontier, was commemorated by the pounding of a golden spike.
"This is kind of the equivalent of the golden spike," he said. "And one other interesting detail — nobody remembers who pounded that golden spike in. The important thing is to remember that the railroad was completed and was now open for use."
Success or failure of the new commercial space effort — the cornerstone of President Barack Obama's vision for NASA — does not hinge on a single mission but rather many missions over many years, Pettit stressed.
"Commercial spaceflight will blossom due to its own merits," he said.
Popular in SciTech
- Amazon proposes a colossal biospherelike Seattle campus
- Weird pirate ant comes with an "eye patch"
- Jennifer Lopez to open Verizon cellphone stores
- Apple's next iPhone may be coming in June
- The 7 weirdest things made by 3D printing
- Watch: Biggest solar storm of the year Play Video
- Google to add Galapagos Islands to Street View
- NASA funds 3D pizza printer
by rightbehind: "This is a privatised venture. No national pride to be found here."
And no need to belittle the efforts of the American private sector to remedy our diminished role in space either......
I've read that quip about national pride from you elsewhere. Seems as if you have no problem with the lack of national pride it takes to kill a manned space program resulting in the need to beg rides into orbit from former enemy states.
-----------------------------------------------------------
LOL! My choice would have been to keep the shuttles going until we had something to replace them. As for begging rides the International space station is just that. A multinational space station. Other nations have a right to be there. We should have had something going into service to replace the shuttle.
My point is if one individual has this kind of wealth it's shameful he can afford to do something we as an entire nation cannot. The employees better start taking notice. They made that wealth. This guy is feeding his ego off the sweat of their brow.
CAN WE KINDLY GET OUR BEHINDS BACK ON TRACK WITH THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE WITH OUR NATIONAL SPACE PROGRAM? Or does it still exist?
----------------------------------
leland stanford ... the 8th governor of california ... and founder of stanford university ... was the person who drove the last spike into the final railroad tie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike
The construction and operation of the Transcontinental Railroad was authorized by the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864 during the American Civil War. Congress supported it with 30-year U.S. government bonds and extensive land grants of government-owned land.
And no need to belittle the efforts of the American private sector to remedy our diminished role in space either......
I've read that quip about national pride from you elsewhere. Seems as if you have no problem with the lack of national pride it takes to kill a manned space program resulting in the need to beg rides into orbit from former enemy states.