Private ship SpaceX Dragon successfully docked to the ISS



    Yesterday at 6:06 p.m. Moscow time, the SpaceX Dragon transport ship successfully docked with the International Space Station. To get closer to the station, the ship had to carry out many additional maneuvers, including its engine for short periods of time. At 15:14 Moscow time, a robotic arm was activated on the ISS under the control of the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and the American astronaut Rick Mastrakkio. A hand pulled the ship to the Harmony module on the ISS.

    This is the fourth time that the Dragon successfully performs such a maneuver, so that in the future it may well claim the role of the main transport vessel for delivering cargo to the ISS.

    “Dragon” delivered almost 2300 kg of cargo to the orbital station: this is food for astronauts, and equipment formany scientific experiments , including seedlings for growing in zero gravity and a mini-satellite running a smartphone.


    A shot from today's NASA TV broadcast

    Docking with the ISS is not the only success of Dragon. Its launch was a test for the reusable Falcon 9 rocket carrier manufactured by the same SpaceX company. After sending the module into orbit, the first stage of the launch vehicle was successfully brought into the Atlantic Ocean and is suitable for further use. This is a great success for the project, to which the developers assigned a probability of 30-40%.

    The videos show the Falcon 9 test launch at a height of 250 meters, followed by landing, as well as the actual launch to the ISS.




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