In an historic first, the SpaceX Dragon capsule has just been successfully snared by the International Space Station. This marks the first time a commercial craft has ever landed at the ISS.
The capsule was pulled to the station by a robotic arm and will remain unopened until a routine air inspection can be performed.
Over the next two weeks, about 1,000 pounds of food and supplies will be unloaded, and then the Dragon capsule will be refilled. It will then disengage from the Station and return to Earth, landing hundreds of miles off the California coast.
It has been just over three days since the SpaceX Dragon was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch was delayed several times but finally took place on May 22.
SpaceX, the company founded by PayPal‘s Elon Musk, was one of several private firms on the receiving end of NASA funds as part of the space agency’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement.
Now that the Dragon capsule has successfully docked with the ISS, SpaceX will get the go-ahead to proceed with its contract, which covers a minimum of 12 flights taking supplies to and from the ISS.
Eventually, SpaceX hopes to be able to transport astronauts to and from the ISS, a task currently being performed by Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
.@SpaceX #Dragon capsule captured by International Space Station!
— NASA (@NASA) May 25, 2012
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