NASA / Kevin O'ConnellTHE DRAGON TAKES FLIGHT... At 7:43 AM, Pacific Standard Time today, a
Falcon 9 rocket carrying SpaceX’s first fully operational
Dragon vehicle was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This was the second launch of Falcon 9 since its maiden flight
last June, while this was Dragon’s first voyage to Earth orbit before it finally begins ferrying cargo to the International Space Station
(ISS) next year. At 11:02 AM, PST, the Dragon capsule safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean
(500 miles off the coast of Mexico, to be exact) after re-entering Earth’s atmosphere...making this the first time a commercial company successfully brought a spacecraft back to the Earth’s surface from orbit. SpaceX deemed this flight a 100% success.
Today is a historic day for manned spaceflight...especially for the United States. With the space shuttle fleet retiring next year, the launch of Falcon 9 had to be a complete success and the on-orbit performance of Dragon completely flawless to vindicate President Obama’s decision
earlier this year to cancel NASA’s Constellation program and rely on private companies to send cargo
(and even astronauts) to low-Earth orbit. SpaceX was suppose to conduct one more "demo" flight of the Dragon spacecraft before it was to finally dock the capsule to the ISS for actual cargo operations. Here’s hoping NASA will have a change of plans and allow SpaceX to consolidate those two flights into one mission, thus allowing Falcon 9 and Dragon to immediately usher in the era of commercial spaceflight just as the space shuttle program is about to come to a close. That is all.
SpaceX / Michael Altenhofen
SpaceX / Michael Altenhofen
SpaceX / Michael Altenhofen
SpaceX / Michael Altenhofen
NASA / Kim Shiflett
PHOTOS OF THE DAY... The images above and below show space shuttle Discovery just as a total lunar eclipse is about to take place above it on Monday night. Of course, I myself couldn't watch the eclipse...since I live in Southern California...and the rainstorm that started last Friday just ended yesterday. Oh well.
NASA-KSC video
The pic below shows Discovery back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center yesterday. Tests will be conducted on Discovery's external fuel tank before the shuttle rolls back to Launch Pad 39A by January 13...in preparation for its targeted February 2 (Pacific Time) launch.
NASA / Frank Michaux
