Astronauts Open 1st Private Capsule at Space Station

Enter the Dragon: Astronauts Open 1st Private Capsule at Space Station

by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor

Date: 26 May 2012 Time: 06:31 AM ET

An internal camera captures the view inside SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the first commercial spacecraft to link up with the International Space Station, as Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko floats inside. CREDIT: NASA TV View full size image

A new first was achieved today (May 26) when astronauts on the International Space Station opened the door to their newest spacecraft visitor, the private capsule Dragon.
Dragon, built by commercial company SpaceX, arrived at the space station on Friday (May 25) and was attached to the outpost's Harmony node at 12:02 p.m. EDT (1602 GMT). It is the first private vehicle ever to visit the $100 billion space station, which is a partnership between five international space agencies.
This morning, after checking the seal between the station and spacecraft for leaks, NASA astronaut Don Pettit opened the hatch leading into the Dragon at 5:53 a.m. EDT (0953 GMT) as the two spacecraft orbited 253 miles (407 kilometers) above the Earth, just west of Auckland, New Zealand.

MORE: http://www.space.com/15885-spacex-dragon-capsule-station-astronauts.html

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