Tuesday, May 22, 2012

SpaceX Falcon 9 on its way to ISS

Congratulations to SpaceX for this morning's mission perfect launch of their Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.  If all continues well, their cargo resupply mission will rendezvous with the ISS in about a day or two.

There were lots of hugs and high-fives at the SpaceX mission control center in Hawthorne, CA in Los Angeles. The last attempted launch, two days ago, was aborted within one second of launch due to high combustion chamber pressure in engine No. 5.
Oh, so, so close. 

Unlike typical ISS resupply missions, the Falcon 9 Dragon capsule won't dock with the ISS under its own control. Instead, it will fly by the ISS following a specific path to demonstrate that it has the fidelity needed to safely approach the space station. Once it proves that it can safely navigate around the ISS, it will approach it and be picked up by the ISS's robotic arm for docking.

SpaceX CEO and co-founder, Elon Musk, said it best, "There's so much hope riding on that rocket."

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