SpaceX Dragon Reaches International Space Station

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SpaceX Dragon Reaches International Space Station

The unmanned Dragon from SpaceX has been captured by a robotic arm on the International Space Station, as the next stage in the historic mission get underway.

It would seem that the historic SpaceX mission to the International Space Station is going on well, after the Dragon was captured by a robotic arm on the ISS.

The capture of the SpaceX Dragon capsule was at a distance of around 10 meters and after this, the next stage of the mission will be on the offing as docking to the International Space Station is attempted.

The capture of the capsule had been expected to occur an hour earlier, at around 9:56 a.m. ET, but the capsule had held off at 30 meters as crew at the International Space Station made adjustments and evaluations.

SpaceX employees, and the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, a Tech entrepreneur were overjoyed at the development, and as soon as NASA confirmed that capture, SpaceX immediately tweeted, CAPTURE COMPLETE!

Docking of the capsule with the International Space Station will be later on today, and that too is highly anticipated by both SpaceX, and the public.

This mission is the first ever attempt that a private spacecraft has made contact with the international space station.

If the docking goes on as planned, then crew from the International Space Station will open up the hatches of the capsule and float in and start unloading equipment and supplies that weigh around 1,100 pounds.

SpaceX with this mission is trying to be the first ever private company to make and launch a spacecraft that docks at the ISS.

In fact, the CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk said before the launch that if they are successful, then it will be the beginning of a new dawn in space exploration. The CEO, Elon is also the chief engineer in SpaceX.

The success of the SpaceX mission, which is also the first attempt by a commercial firm to reach the ISS, is also being watched keenly by NASA, since after its last space shuttle flight last year; it has not been able to reach the station that it built. In fact, currently, NASA relies on Russian Soyuz capsules to reach the station.

The Obama administration has also been of great help since it has provided incentives for the private industry to make forays in to space travel so that space exploration does not die altogether in the US.

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