Dragon splashes down in Pacific
Posted: Thu, May 31, 2012, 9:00 PM ET (0100 GMT)
SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft departed from the International Space Station early Thursday and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, wrapping up a successful demonstration mission. The Dragon was unberthed from the ISS by the station's robotic arm at 4:07 am EDT (0807 GMT) and soon departed the vicinity of the station. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere several hours later, splashing down several hundred kilometers off the coast of Baja California at 11:42 am EDT (1542 GMT). A SpaceX recovery ship pulled the capsule out of the ocean a short time later and will return it to California. The capsule is carrying over 600 kilograms of experiments and unneeded equipment from the station, some of which will be offloaded at the Port of Los Angeles and the rest after the capsule is transported to a SpaceX facility in Texas. The splashdown wrapped up a first-of-its-kind mission by a commercial spacecraft, successfully approaching the ISS and being berthed to the station last week. The flight clears the way for SpaceX to begin regular cargo missions to the ISS, with the first planned for later this year.
SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft departed from the International Space Station early Thursday and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, wrapping up a successful demonstration mission. The Dragon was unberthed from the ISS by the station's robotic arm at 4:07 am EDT (0807 GMT) and soon departed the vicinity of the station. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere several hours later, splashing down several hundred kilometers off the coast of Baja California at 11:42 am EDT (1542 GMT). A SpaceX recovery ship pulled the capsule out of the ocean a short time later and will return it to California. The capsule is carrying over 600 kilograms of experiments and unneeded equipment from the station, some of which will be offloaded at the Port of Los Angeles and the rest after the capsule is transported to a SpaceX facility in Texas. The splashdown wrapped up a first-of-its-kind mission by a commercial spacecraft, successfully approaching the ISS and being berthed to the station last week. The flight clears the way for SpaceX to begin regular cargo missions to the ISS, with the first planned for later this year.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Senate committee advances Isaacman nomination to lead NASA
Posted: Sun, May 4 10:23 AM ET (1423 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Friday, May 9
Starlink’s launch in India now a matter of when, not if
TechCrunch — 6:27 am ET (1027 GMT) Musk’s Starlink Edges Closer to India Launch with Government Approval
IndUS Business Journal — 6:26 am ET (1026 GMT) SPACECOM Wants to Be Dynamic in Orbit. The Question Is How
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) 'Ludicrous': Why South Texas locals have beef with FAA over Starbase launches
San Antonio Express-News — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) Italy’s Air Force chief champions commercial satellite integration
Decode39 — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) |
