Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

Commercial Spacecraft Heads To Space Station

by Susan R. Morrissey
May 28, 2012 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 90, Issue 22

[+]Enlarge
Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
SpaceX’s Dragon successfully lifted off last week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is lifted into a vertical position on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on May 17, 2011.
Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
SpaceX’s Dragon successfully lifted off last week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

In the wee hours of May 22, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft on its Falcon 9 launch vehicle. This is the second demonstration mission for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program and the first time a commercially developed and built spacecraft has been launched to the International Space Station (ISS). “Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration: A private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time,” NASA head Charles F. Bolden Jr. said after the launch. The goal of the mission is to show that a commercial craft can successfully reach and dock with ISS, thus giving NASA direct access to the station now that the agency has retired its shuttles. In addition to noncritical supplies, Dragon is also carrying 15 science experiments designed by students in grades 5–12 that will assess the effects of microgravity on physical, chemical, and biological systems.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.