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SpaceX Launches Falcon 9/Dragon on Historic Mission |
This story was retrieved from the NASA website. Neither NASA nor any other entity
represented in the article endorses this website.
05.22.12
SpaceX
Launches Falcon 9/Dragon on Historic Mission
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Fla., to begin a demonstration flight. Photo credit: NASA TV
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into space and
delivered a Dragon cargo capsule into orbit on May 22, 2012. The launch began an ambitious mission to show that
the company is ready to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
"We're now back on the brink of
a new future, a future that embraces the innovation the private sector brings to the table," said NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden. "The significance of this day cannot be overstated. While there is a lot of work
ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are off to a good start."
Working with an instantaneous
launch window, SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., proceeded through a flawless
countdown. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 3:44 a.m.
EDT, just as the station was crossing 249 miles above the North Atlantic.
"Every bit of adrenaline in my
body released at that moment," said Elon Musk about the moment the rocket lifted off the pad. Musk is the founder,
CEO and chief designer of SpaceX. "People were really giving it their all. For us, it was like winning the Super
Bowl."
The launch came three days after the rocket aborted a previous launch attempt. William Gerstenmaier, NASA's
associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, lauded the company for getting
the craft ready for the successful launch.
"They stayed focused and kept moving forward," Gerstenmaier
said. "Things are moving in the right direction."
Dragon is carrying about 1,200 pounds of supplies for
the crew of the station and experiments designed by students. The spacecraft can hold 7,300 pounds of material for
delivery to the station, but since this is a test flight, the manifest was limited to important but not critical
materials. Food and clothing make up the bulk of the supplies.
The launch put the Dragon on a course to
rendezvous with the space station in three days. A detailed series of navigation and other systems tests will be
performed in space before the capsule is allowed to move close enough to the station for astronauts to grab it
with the robot arm and connect it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.
The tests include a
careful approach to the station that calls for the spacecraft to pause several times. The space station crew also
will show that they can communicate directly with the uncrewed Dragon capsule. If all the testing goes well, they
will go ahead with the rendezvous and berthing.
"There's still a thousand things that have to go right, but we are looking forward to this exciting
mission," said Alan Lindemoyer, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program.
The Dragon will
remain connected to the station for about three weeks, allowing astronauts to empty it before loading used
scientific equipment inside for the return to Earth. Reversing the process of connecting the spacecraft to the
station, astronauts will use the robotic arm to remove the Dragon capsule. The Dragon will then de-orbit and
return to Earth under parachutes, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.
Steven
Siceloff
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center
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