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Space & Astronomy

SpaceX's Dragon ship mission for Apil 30th

By T.K. Randall
April 18, 2012 · Comment icon 5 comments

Image Credit: NASA/SpaceX
The first ever space station resupply mission by a commercial operator is scheduled for the end of April.
The unmanned Dragon freighter by SpaceX will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket and dock with the station in orbit to offload supplies. "It's just important to appreciate that this is pretty tricky," said cheif designer Elon Musk. "For the public out there, they may not realise that [the] space station is zooming around the Earth every 90 minutes. It's going 17,000mph and you've got to launch up there and rendezvous. You've got to be tracking [the] space station to within inches."
The flight of the unmanned Dragon freighter is supposed to be just a demonstration, but its success would mark a new era in spaceflight. Nasa is keen to hand off routine space transportation to the private sector - for both cargo and crew.


Source: BBC News | Comments (5)

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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by Still Waters 12 years ago
Update - SpaceX delays first private launch to International Space Station http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9222465/SpaceX-delays-first-private-launch-to-International-Space-Station.html
Comment icon #2 Posted by DONTEATUS 12 years ago
This will be epic ! I cant wait ! NASA will no doubt start to grow again from this venture !
Comment icon #3 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 12 years ago
NASA will no doubt start to grow again from this venture ! How? The very point is that this is NOT a NASA vehicle. Although NASA provided some funds, both this and the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus vehicle (which will make its first test flight later in the year) are privately developed. NASA will be buying services from these companies in the same way that it buys seats on the Soyuz vehicles from the Russians. Both Space-X and Orbital are US companies and so there is a strong argument that US space exploration can begin to grow again from this venture, but not NASA. NASA (at least in ma... [More]
Comment icon #4 Posted by DONTEATUS 12 years ago
How? The very point is that this is NOT a NASA vehicle. Although NASA provided some funds, both this and the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus vehicle (which will make its first test flight later in the year) are privately developed. NASA will be buying services from these companies in the same way that it buys seats on the Soyuz vehicles from the Russians. Both Space-X and Orbital are US companies and so there is a strong argument that US space exploration can begin to grow again from this venture, but not NASA. NASA (at least in manned spaceflight) will not begin to grow again until Orion ... [More]
Comment icon #5 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 12 years ago
Well I understand that many Ex-NASA employes have already taken up jobs in several of the start up co`s But NASA will indeed grow there`s too much History and Skills that they alone have ! We will return to the Stars,ANd you will be surprised from where the next new news will come from ! Lets just say its a little birdie that roost near a Big White House ! I have to be honest, I'm really not sure exactly what you are trying to say here. The only thing that is clear is that you are not answering the question I asked. I did not say that NASA wouldn't grow, exactly the opposite in fact, as I gave... [More]


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