Thursday, May 24, 2012

SpaceX Docking With ISS Early Tomorrow AM

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said Thursday evening that it will be webcasting the docking of the firm's Dragon capsule with the International Space Station tomorrow morning, at the early hour of 4:30 A.M. PST. SpaceX, which so far has successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket, deployed its Dragon capsule, and had a successful flyby of the ISS, is getting set to dock the capsule tomorrow in the first, ever, berthing of a commercial spacecraft with the ISS.

SpaceX--a venture backed startup headed by Elon Musk--has been making progress towards its goal of delivering astronauts to space, with the first cargo mission to the ISS a milestone to getting NASA approval and a contract for human spaceflight. Fans of the firm's efforts to become the first commercial company to launch and deliver a payload to space have been given unprecedented exposure to the mission, both through NASA's own broadcasts of the mission, as well as webcasts by SpaceX itself. (Photo: Astronauts watching the SpaceX launch, via ESA/NASA)>.

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