Computer image of what the docking would look like from the ISS.
Space history was made this week as the SpaceX Dragon 2 crew spacecraft launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and docked with the International Space Station.
The unmanned, test version Dragon 2 blasted off from Launch Complex 39B at 02:49 a.m. EST. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted the ship high into the atmosphere before separating from the second stage. The first stage then was guided to a safe, vertical landing aboard the ocean recovery barge "Of Course I Still Love You" (SpaceX has a very keen sense of humor). The second stage propelled the Dragon 2 into an intercepting orbit, on track to rendezvous with the ISS Sunday morning. Docking occurred at 5:51 a.m. EST. The docking was managed by an automated docking computer procedure using the craft's thrusters, to the U.S. built Harmony module. Later crewed missions will allow the astronaut crew to manually take over if necessary during the arrival and docking.
ISS station astronauts moving about inside the Dragon 2 cabin. The seated figure is a test dummy with sensors to allow engineers to monitor what a crewmember would experience on a future flight. A fluffy Earth Character floats nearby in the microgravity environment.
For this test, the Dragon 2 will spend the next few days attached to the station for engineering monitoring and tests. Undocking should occur Friday morning, with the craft returning through the atmosphere to a splash recovery in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida.
The crewed test mission should take place this summer. For more information about the docking of Dragon 2, visit NASASpaceglight.com, at: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/
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