CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private space capsule called Dragon soared into the predawn sky Tuesday, riding a pillar of flame like its beastly namesake on a history-making trip to the International Space Station.
The unmanned capsule, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX venture, is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.
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The SpaceX launch vehicle is named after the Millennium Falcon of "Star Wars," while the capsule got its moniker from the Peter, Paul and Mary song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon."
SpaceX rocket begins milestone mission to space station
From Sputnik(1957) to Apollo (1969) to today - milestones in man's reaching for the stars. How long are we from asteroid mining, space tourism, and colonies? I think, with the advances in computing power and new materials, we will see commercial activity in space in less than 20 years - a blink of an eye.
I used to work on the Apollo Project many years ago. The attention to details and extreme quality assurance was amazing. I am proud to see SpaceX get their rocket successfully launched because isn't an easy job. American ingenuity and brains have come through for us again.
ReplyDeleteSpace exploration is a beautiful thing to witness - and congratulations for being part of the Apollo Program.
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