www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
World / US and Canada

First commercial spacecraft docks with space station

(Xinhua) Updated: 2012-05-26 12:24

WASHINGTON - SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station on Friday and became the first commercial spacecraft to reach the orbital outpost.

First commercial spacecraft docks with space station

?

The SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft docks with the International Space Station using the station's Canadarm2 in this image captured from NASA TV May 25, 2012. [Photo/Agencies] 

According to US space agency NASA, the capsule was securely bolted to the Harmony module of the station at 12:02 pm EDT. ( 1602 GMT), following a grab by the station's robotic arm earlier in the day.

"Dragon has attached with the International Space Station!!!! History has been made!!!" California-based private company SpaceX announced through its Twitter account following the docking.

The cone-shaped Dragon capsule is 19 feet tall and 12 feet across. It carries more than 1,000 pounds of cargo, mostly food and clothing - items that NASA regards as no big loss should the launching fail.

The station's hatches are set to open on Saturday for the unloading of the Dragon's more than half ton of cargo to begin.

Dragon will remain at the space station for nearly a week. Then, it will be unberthed next Thursday and will head back to Earth where it is planned to re-enter the atmosphere and splashdown off the coast of southern California.

"Now that a US company has proven its ability to resupply the space station, it opens a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space and new job creation opportunities right here in the US," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

White House science adviser John Holdren also hailed the achievement.

"For the first time, a private American company has successfully launched a spacecraft into orbit and berthed it with the International Space Station - an achievement of historic scientific and technological significance and a key milepost in President Obama's vision for America's continued leadership in space," Holdren said in a statement.

"I could not be prouder of our scientists and engineers - both government and private sector employees - who have contributed to this historic mission," he said.

What sets the Dragon apart from other capsules is that it can bring back space station experiments and old equipment as the space shuttles did. None of the Russian, European or Japanese supply ships do that - they burn up when they return to Earth. The Russian Soyuz vehicles that ferry astronauts have little room to spare.

If the mission is successful, SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on a 396-million-USdollar agreement with NASA to develop the cargo ship. SpaceX would then enter a 1.6-billion- dollar contract for a dozen cargo flights to the station.

SpaceX launched Dragon from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday with its Falcon 9 rocket. On Thursday, the capsule came within 1.6 miles of the space station in a practice fly-by.

Before Dragon's lift-off, flights to the space station have always been a government-only affair.

Until their retirement last summer, US space shuttles carried most of the gear and many of the astronauts to the orbiting outpost. Since then, American astronauts have had to rely on Russian capsules for rides. European, Japanese and Russian supply ships have been delivering cargo.

NASA is looking to the private sector, in this post-shuttle era, to get American astronauts launching again from US soil. It will be at least four to five years before SpaceX or any other private operator is capable of flying astronauts.

 

Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
Most Popular
Hot Topics

...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 97精品久久久久中文字幕 | 免费一级片网站 | 色欧美在线| 国产网站在线 | 好吊妞国产欧美日韩视频 | 国产一级在线现免费观看 | 波多野结衣3女同在线观看 波多野结衣aⅴ在线 | 午夜精品视频 | 国产高中生粉嫩无套第一次 | 97久久精品午夜一区二区 | 你懂的国产精品 | 久草免费福利视频 | 欧美成人爽毛片在线视频 | 欧美特黄特色aaa大片免费看 | 91精品成人 | 久久亚洲精品中文字幕亚瑟 | 在线观看日本视频免费 | 欧美成人免费观看国产 | 日韩高清在线播放不卡 | 给我一个可以看片的www日本 | 成免费网站 | 久久tv免费国产高清 | 九九国产| 在线观看91精品国产入口 | 国产精品爱久久久久久久小 | 韩国免费播放一级毛片 | 国产一区二区日韩欧美在线 | 国产成人精品视频 | 欧美精品在线免费观看 | 在线视频欧美日韩 | 欧美一区二区视频在线观看 | 精品欧美一区二区在线观看 | 亚洲无卡视频 | 亚洲七七久久精品中文国产 | 欧美视频在线网站 | 免费老外的毛片清高 | 日韩在线三级 | 美国人成毛片在线播放 | 欧美毛片日韩一级在线 | 美女视频黄视大全视频免费网址 | 亚洲精品天堂自在久久77 |