This marks the first time a commercial company has successfully recovered a spacecraft reentering from low-Earth orbit. It is a feat performed by only six nations or government agencies: the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India, and the European Space Agency.
It is also the first flight under NASA’s COTS program to develop commercial supply services to the International Space Station. After the Space Shuttle retires, SpaceX will fly at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contract for NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were designed to one day carry astronauts; both the COTS and CRS missions will yield valuable flight experience toward this goal, noted a statement released by SpaceX.
"This flight will go down in history as a turning point for the opening of space to regular people," said Foundation Co-Founder Rick Tumlinson. "It may not be Yuri Gagarin, but it is certainly the equivalent of Sputnik for commercial spaceflight!"
"NASA is right to celebrate this achievement, as it further proves that their bet on commercial industry as their new partners is going to pay off," said Foundation Executive Director William Watson. "American companies can do amazing things when government offers them the chance to perform, rather than trying to compete with them."
"That also includes large established companies like Boeing and United Launch Alliance," added Co-Founder James Muncy. "SpaceX's first Dragon flight is just the harbinger of a new chapter in the opening of space. Our leaders in Congress should recognize that capitalism works in space too, and get on the right side of history and fully invest in this high-payoff new industry, instead of just propping up the Shuttle industrial complex."
More from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Space Travel, CBS News, and National Public Radio (NPR audio).
The Future is so near ... Three cheers for ELON !!!
No comments:
Post a Comment