The launch is a key step towards resuming manned space flights from US soil.
Image: Terry Renna Image: Terry Renna NASA AND SPACEX today celebrated the successful launch of a new astronaut capsule on a week-long round trip to the International Space Station – a key step towards resuming manned space flights from US soil after an eight-year break.
The new capsule blasted off aboard the Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX – run by billionaire Elon Musk — at 2.49 am from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, lighting up the coastline.“Dragon separation confirmed.”The capsule is scheduled to reach the ISS by tomorrow at around 11 am Irish time, with a return to Earth next Friday.In another success, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth, landing on a platform 500 kilometres off the Florida coast in the Atlantic.
After the shuttle program was shuttered in July 2011 following a 30-year run, NASA began outsourcing the logistics of its space missions.
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