SpaceX becomes the first private company to dock with the International Space Station

Elon Musk's private space-faring venture gets a big thumbs up from NASA

After?delays almost too numerous to count, the?SpaceX Dragon finally launched into the great unknown on May 22, and made its way to the International Space Station. This morning, at approximately 9:57 a.m. Eastern, the vessel docked with the ISS, marking a major milestone in mankind's history of space exploration.

The Dragon slowly approached the ISS, gradually aligning itself with the ISS and flying in perfect harmony before the space station reached out its long docking arm. After a few tense moments ? and folks at NASA headquarters visibly on the edge of their seats ? the docking was completed successfully.

The event isn't just important in terms of having a new space-faring vehicle meet up with the aging ISS, but it's the first time a private company has ever successfully launched and docked a ship outside of our atmosphere. The Dragon was unmanned, and the capsule was sent to deliver cargo to the astronauts on board the space station, but a successful flight means the possibility for a manned mission might be close behind.

Despite the gravity of the situation, NASA kept a good sense of humor, and when the capsule was eventually nabbed by the space station's arm, astronaut?Don Pettit cracked "It looks like we have a Dragon by the tail."

(Source)

This article was written by Mike Wehner (@mikewehner) and originally appeared on Tecca

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