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Dragon arrives at space station in historic 1st
Yahoo news ^ | 25 May 2012 | MARCIA DUNN

Posted on 05/25/2012 8:45:26 AM PDT by mandaladon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The privately bankrolled Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station for a historic docking Friday, captured by astronauts wielding a giant robot arm.

It succeeded in making the first commercial delivery into the cosmos.

U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit used the space station's 58-foot robot arm to snare the gleaming white Dragon after a few hours of extra checks and maneuvers. The two vessels came together while sailing above Australia.

"Looks like we've got us a dragon by the tail," Pettit announced from 250 miles up once he locked onto Dragon's docking mechanism.

"You've made a lot of folks happy down here over in Hawthorne and right here in Houston," radioed NASA's Mission Control. "Great job guys."

NASA controllers clapped as their counterparts at SpaceX's control center in Hawthorne, Calif. — including SpaceX's billionaire maestro, Elon Musk, of PayPal fame — lifted their arms in triumph and jumped out of their seats to exchange high fives.

This is the first time a private company has attempted to send a vessel to the space station, an achievement previously reserved for a small, elite group of government agencies. And it's the first U.S. craft to visit the station since the final shuttle flight last July.

The astronauts wasted no time getting the Dragon capsule into position for actual docking to the space station. The unmanned capsule is carrying 1,000 pounds of supplies on this unprecedented test flight.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News
KEYWORDS: dragon; iss; space; spacex
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To: DoughtyOne
I’m actually glad that there are two businesses out there working toward these goals

I think there are 3, but yes it's good to see some new blood. The old big commercial concerns that have launched most satellites are too slow and set in their ways to do things quickly and cheaply.

That seems to be the difference between firm fixed-price contracts and cost plus contracts.

/johnny

61 posted on 05/25/2012 3:06:54 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

That does seem to be the case. Thanks Johnny.


62 posted on 05/25/2012 3:45:57 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This space for rent...)
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To: JRandomFreeper

BTW, thanks for mentioning there are three. Great.


63 posted on 05/25/2012 3:47:37 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This space for rent...)
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To: ILS21R

Uh oh. Space X is doomed...Obama is in da house.

Obama is the anti-Midas. Everything he touches turns to s#it.


64 posted on 05/25/2012 4:20:43 PM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: DoughtyOne
After thinking about it a little more, one of the big differences in the new companies, and the old big guys like General Dynamics, Lockheed, etc.... is a difference in outlook from then and now.

Today, young people don't have jobs for life. They have careers for life, and move from job to job, following what they love and, of course, the money.

The guys at Space-X obviously don't have an investment in building an empire. Hell, their control center is commercial computers on office tables.

Overhead stuff, like fancy consoles, adds up, and doesn't add value to getting something launched.

/johnny

65 posted on 05/25/2012 4:28:08 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: hattend
Obama is in da house.

LOL! that pic is taken at the USAF Station in Florida. You don't think Space-X is dumb enough to invite him to their facility do you?

/johnny

66 posted on 05/25/2012 4:31:00 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: jboot
The alternative is the long, slow stagnation, contraction and eventual death of civilization. Human beings don't do "sustainable"-it's not in out nature and never will be. We long to build, to grow, to excel. We always want new, and we always want more. To thrive we need more space and more stuff. The only place left to get it is Up There. We will go up or we will go down. It is really that simple.

Well said. Extremely well said...

67 posted on 05/25/2012 4:51:02 PM PDT by ScreamingFist (Quiet the Idiot)
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To: hattend
One of the stupidest things a POTUS did was sign the "outer space treaty". I think it was LBJ. Basically nobody is "allowed" in space unless there's no profit/ ownership involved.

For my money it would be sweet if the first person to land on Mars OWNS it.

Talk about an ego boost. You own the Portland Trailblazers? Hah! I own a friggin' planet. Suck it!

68 posted on 05/25/2012 5:06:39 PM PDT by boop (I hate hippies and dopeheads. Just hate them. ...Ernest Borgnine)
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To: mandaladon
This scheduling of this is no accident. I watched the head of NASA today extolling Obama's plan to privatize space exploration. The US no longer has a way to transport its people into space and must depend upon the Russians to do it. It will be a long time before we can ever be truly number 1 in manned space exploration.

Today was the day that Obama's vision of the American space program was declared a triumph. Look for the MSM to make a big deal of this while our shuttles are now museum pieces.

69 posted on 05/25/2012 5:27:37 PM PDT by kabar
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

Dream on. This is all Obama BS. He has destroyed our space program. Folks like Neil Armstrong have been very critical of Obama’s vision for our space program. This has nothing to do with free enterprise. It is a scam and part of crony capitalism.


70 posted on 05/25/2012 5:30:33 PM PDT by kabar
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To: mandaladon

Civilization: The West and the rest is a new show on public television that explains why free enterprise and competition is the reason why the Western World has become the leader and the Eastern world stayed stagnant.


71 posted on 05/25/2012 5:47:22 PM PDT by mulder1 ("The past is prologue.")
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To: dragnet2
Video: SpaceX employees standing outside mission control at SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California, watching the successful stage separation...

Did my heart a world of good to watch that. That's the real America.

72 posted on 05/25/2012 6:09:16 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: jboot
Human beings don't do "sustainable"-it's not in out nature and never will be. We long to build, to grow, to excel. We always want new, and we always want more. To thrive we need more space and more stuff. The only place left to get it is Up There. We will go up or we will go down. It is really that simple.

No worries, J. The human race will do what it's always done, and will one day own the stars. Like you said, it's in our genes to go bigger, better, farther. Space X is only just the start.

73 posted on 05/25/2012 6:29:05 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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74 posted on 05/25/2012 6:41:07 PM PDT by RedMDer (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=93)
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To: kabar
Look for the MSM to make a big deal of this while our shuttles are now museum pieces.

North American/Rockwell was the prime contractor for the shuttle.

Where were they in funding, designing, operating, and making history today? On the sidelines, because it wasn't big-gov cost plus contract.

I'm glad the old way of doing things is going away. It had it's place, and we stand on the shoulders of giants, but big, ancient aerospace companies can't deal with today's world.

/johnny

75 posted on 05/25/2012 7:08:29 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: boop

I’m sure there are lots of politics and blah, blah, blah involved.

But to tell the truth, I was so excited about this. The government being out of things maybe the best thing that ever happened. (Much to Barry’s consternation)

Move over rover..let SpaceX take over...no pun intended.


76 posted on 05/25/2012 7:16:13 PM PDT by berdie
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To: Vaquero

77 posted on 05/25/2012 7:26:13 PM PDT by TLI ( ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: TLI

78 posted on 05/25/2012 8:05:58 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: TLI; JRandomFreeper; Windflier; Ron C.

4/2011 Russian Resistance to SpaceX Dragon Docking

“We will not issue docking permission unless the necessary level of reliability and safety is proven,” said Alexei Krasov, head of the human spaceflight department of Roscosmos. “So far we have no proof that those spacecraft duly comply with the accepted norms of spaceflight safety.”

http://news.discovery.com/space/russian-resistance-to-spacex-dragon-docking-110427.html

Of course, it was Russia who stood to gain by blocking SpaceX.

Safety? That's odd, as they seemed to have little regard for safety prior to this.

79 posted on 05/25/2012 8:24:56 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: kabar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

” In 2006, NASA awarded the company a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract to design and demonstrate a launch system to resupply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). On 9 December 2010, the launch of the COTS Demo Flight 1 mission, SpaceX became the first privately funded company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft. On 22 May 2012, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried the unmanned Dragon capsule into space, marking the first time a private company has sent a spacecraft to the space station. The unmanned, cone-shaped capsule became the first privately built and operated vehicle to ever dock to the orbiting outpost”

I’m so glad Obama had the foresight to award this contract in 2006.
.”


80 posted on 05/25/2012 8:28:27 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (The democratic party is the greatest cargo cult in history.)
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