SpaceX Capsule Joins to Space Station
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. made history Friday by attaching the first private spacecraft to the international space station, a move that ultimately could change the economics and politics of U.S. space exploration.
The unmanned Dragon capsule’s halting, painstakingly slow final movements toward the station, where it was grabbed by a robotic arm at 9:56 a.m. Eastern daylight saving time, represents a first-of-its-kind achievement in the annals of space science. Until the Southern California company, known as SpaceX, succeeded in attaching the capsule to the space station, only governmental agencies had attempted such a rendezvous.
