ISS Captures SpaceX Dragon Capsule

Today at 9:56AM EDT (13:56 GMT) the robotic arm on the International Space Station successfully captured SpaceX's Dragon capsule. It's the first time a commercial craft has connected with the ISS, and the first time a spacecraft made in the U.S. has gone to the station since the retirement of the shuttle. The approach was delayed temporarily as engineers worked out bad sensor readings due to light reflected off the ISS's Kibo laboratory. "To work around the problem, SpaceX narrowed the field of view for the laser sensor so that it wouldn't pick up light from the offending reflector. Dragon then returned to the 30-meter checkpoint and moved in for the final approach." If all goes well today, the capsule will most likely be opened tomorrow. Video of the operation is being broadcast live on NASA TV.

Comments

Hooray.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's it. Just hooray.

Re:Hooray.

[egamma]

I will be mourning the death of publicly-funded space travel. Now, we hand it over to the pirates, slave-traders and privateers of our own era.

Citation please. Who has SpaceX robbed or committed violence against? Who has SpaceX enslaved? Which government has authorized SpaceX to attack foreign shipping during wartime?

Re:Hooray.

[ToadProphet]

The only way we will get in space big time is if there is profit to be made by being up there

Maybe we need to change this? It's a rather sad statement that profit trumps all and is the only valid motivation for expanding our horizons.

Re:Hooray.

[mycroft16]

Why? Publicly funded space travel isn't over. NASA has stated, just a few weeks ago, that their goal is Mars. The SLS and Orion are still progressing nicely towards their big tests. No mourning needed.

Re:Hooray.

[bill_mcgonigle]

If you think that "robbing or committing violence" didn't come into it, try not paying your taxes and see what happens.

It's one thing to evade taxation which is used to pay for services that the people have voted for. It is quite another to evade taxation which is used to pay money to private corporations - whether that's Boeing or SpaceX.

So, do you think SpaceX isn't better than Boeing or even NASA developing things themselves? SpaceX does things about 10x cheaper than the others, so isn't 10% violence better than 100% violence? How about if SpaceX becomes like Greyhound and NASA goes away completely?

it doesn't mean it won't turn into another Boeing.

They have completely different goals. SpaceX intends to replace NASA. Boeing indend(ed) to suck at the NASA teet in perpetuity.

Re:Hooray.

[rufty_tufty]

It's the difference between:
NASA: We want a shuttle
Boeing/etc: Right give us $5billion and we'll go build one for you.,
NASA: Here's $5 Billion
BOeing./etc: Thanks but we had need some more
NASA: okay
Boeing/etc: Nope still more and if you don't give it to uss you'll have wasted all the moey you threw at us
NASA: okay, well while you're doing that we need to change the requirements
Boeing/etc: Oh, few more billion please, and did i mention it doesn't work very well so we'll want a few more billion.
etc

verses
SpaceX: we want to develop manned flight, look here's us launching a satellite. Anyone interested?
NASA: cool, hey we want that, need some funding?
SpaceX: Sure if you're offering it to us.
NASA okay, well if you can deliver a Falcon 9 and meet the design targets for your Dragon we'll give you $500 Million to build them
SpaceX: Done, can we have our money now?
NASA: Cool you've had a successful launch. We'll pay you for the next launch now then

If you don't see the difference between these two models then I'm somewhat worried. Not that I blame NASA or Boeing or anyone else, it's just what happens when this much money is in play. the only way to fix that is to get the cost down.
If anything this distraction of manned flight has taken them away from their initial goal of developing cheap satellite launch capability. Not that I think they mind but still it shows that they had a business plan without NASa that still exists. See Biglow as well for uses of this manned capability they plan to use.

sorry, unconstructive emotional comment'n'all, but

[jthill]

Fucking awesome.

Its not just "Private Good - Government Bad"

[itsdapead]

The strive for profit will necessarily lead to advancements in space tech, as they have in all other industries where long-term profitability is the primary incentive (Silicon Valley being the prime modern example).

SpaceX, Virgin Galactic et. al. aren't going into space because they are private sector.

SpaceX, Virgin Galactic et. al. are going into space because they are run by individuals who have made shedloads of money in other ventures and, instead of being good capitalists and starting work on their next shedload, have decided instead to try and realise their childhood ambition of being an astronaut, if only vicariously (has Elon Musk been sighted since the launch? :-) )

Kudos to them of course - and they may even end up making money - but without that sort of motivation the private sector would, at most, look at ways of making a risk-free buck by launching comms satellites rather than trying to put people into space.

As others have pointed out, the real test will - unfortunately - come the first time someone gets killed. I'm not sure the private sector could afford a Challenger inquiry.

Re:Its not a commercial craft

[bill_mcgonigle]

I'm not suggesting what the situation is with SpaceX

What does your subject line mean then?

If NASA buys toilet paper from a commercial vendor, that doesn't turn the toilet paper manufacturer into a government boondoggle.

SpaceX is commercial in the sense that they offer a product for a price. When you have government contractors who charge "some base amount plus whatever else cost overruns demand the price to increase to" then, yeah, it's a quasi-government entity. SpaceX will eat cost overruns, if they happen, but that's bad for profitability so they try to ensure it doesn't (with good engineering and business acumen). That isn't to say that fleecing government agencies doesn't show good business acumen, but it's also not a private sector endeavour.