Spacex Falcon 9 Launch
Tip: Highlight text to annotate itX
Greetings! This is a CyberEye broadcast updating you
on the latest and greatest developments in the world of science and technology.
After a handful of delays and one abort on the launch pad, SpaceX began its historic
journey toward the International Space Station just before 4:00 a.m. eastern time in the
morning of May 22, as its Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
in Florida in a spectacular nighttime launch. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft aboard the
Falcon 9 rocket successfully separated and deployed its solar arrays just minutes later
after being delivered to its intended orbit by the second rocket stage. If a series of
test maneuvers goes well over the next few days, the Dragon will become the first privately
built spacecraft to dock with the ISS. This launch marks the third consecutive successful
launch of the Falcon 9 and it very well will may go down in history as the proper beginning
of the era of private spaceflight. NASA has been working closely with SpaceX and other
commercial spaceflight companies under its COTS program (for Commercial Orbital Transportation
Services) in an effort to replace the capability lost when the space shuttles retired with
private carriers capable of servicing the ISS and other points in low Earth orbit.
As of this morning, the future of commercial space looks pretty bright. Right now, the
Dragon capsule is slated to rendezvous with the ISS on May 25, where it will dock for
two weeks while astronauts aboard the station offload supplies carried by the Dragon and
then fill it up with cargo destined for Earth. Dragon will then de-orbit, splashing down
in the Pacific Ocean where it will hopefully be recovered intact and used again in the
future. Update complete.
