SpaceX
has become the first company to design, build, launch, and now dock a
commercial spaceship made for flying
people to the International Space Station.
Elon
Musk's rocket company launched
the seven-seat vehicle, called Crew
Dragon, on Saturday at 2:49 am ET (7:49 am UTC).
By
early morning on Sunday, the 14,000-lb (6,350 kilogram) space capsule had
caught up to the football-field-size laboratory that orbits Earth.
After
a series of safety checks, SpaceX began nudging Crew Dragon toward the front
end of the space station.
At
5:51 am ET (10:51 am UTC), it made
soft contact with a docking node, engaged six arms, and latched on.
About 11 minutes later, the spaceship tightly screwed itself to Node 2 of the
space station.
Nobody
was on board to open Crew Dragon's hatch – only 400 lbs (181 kilograms) of
cargo and a female
crash-test dummy named "Ripley".
However,
NASA says SpaceX's demonstration or Demo-1 mission was "a critical first
step" in restoring US-crewed access to space, since the goal is to prove
the new spaceship is safe to fly its astronauts.
"A
new generation of space flight starts now with the arrival of @SpaceX's Crew
Dragon to the @Space_Station," Jim Bridenstine, NASA's
administrator, tweeted on
Sunday.
"Congratulations
to all for this historic achievement getting us closer to flying American
Astronauts on American rockets."
NASA's
space shuttle Endeavour was the last American human-rated ship to touch the
space station, and that was in July 2011.
On
Sunday, Crew Dragon docked with Node 2: the spot where NASA's 100-ton space
shuttle orbiters often used to dock.
The
symbolism was not lost on the space station's current three-person Expedition
58 crew, who opened the hatch, floated inside Crew Dragon at 8:07 am ET,
and held a greeting ceremony for Crew Dragon live on NASA TV.
"It
was a beautiful thing to see," said David
Saint-Jacques, a Canadian astronaut and station crew member.
"Today
we welcome a brand-new spacecraft to the space station, and a great new
addition to the quiver of tools we have for humans to further space
exploration. This is a good day, a first day of a new era for the next
generation of space explorers."
During
the brief greeting ceremony, Expedition 58 commander and Russian crew
member Oleg Kononenko spoke
first.
"On
behalf of my crew, I would like to congratulate the United States of America
and the NASA team for this very significant event: the launch and docking of
the SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship," Kononenko said.
"It's
a historic step … on our way of human beings [moving] beyond low-Earth orbit to
the Moon, and Mars, and the future."
Saint-Jacques
spoke next, marveling at the thousands of people, years of work, and close
collaboration between SpaceX and NASA that it took to pull off a docking of a
commercial spaceship.
Last
was Anne
McClain, a NASA astronaut and another space station crew member. She had
the most to say about Crew Dragon's successful arrival at her orbiting home in
the sky.
"Our
sincere congrats to all earthlings who have enabled the opening of this next
chapter in space exploration," McClain said.
"And
congratulations to all nations, private space firms, and individuals who wake
up every day driven by the magic of exploration. This day belongs to all of
us."
She
remarked on the international makeup of the space station and the effort that
went into its creation 250 miles (400 kilometres) above Earth, and how Crew
Dragon is now part of it.
"Spaceflight
gives us a chance to reflect on the context of our existence. We are reminded
that we are human before any of our differences, before all of the lines are
drawn that divide us," she said.
"We
are reminded that we're at our best when we are a part of something bigger than
ourselves.
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