SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station (ISS) Monday, delivering 5,000 pounds of food, supplies, and science experiments to the astronauts.
The Dragon took off from Cape Canaveral Saturday on top of a Falcon 9 Rocket as part of SpaceX's $1.6 billion contract with NASA to resupply the
International Space Station, Florida Today reported. It was the first commercial flight since an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket failed just after liftoff in Virginia in October, the newspaper noted.
NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti guided the capsule safely into docking position with the help of the space station's 58-foot robotic arm some 262 miles above Earth on Monday.
"It's nice to have it onboard, and we'll be digging in soon," Wilmore, who commands the six-person Expedition 42 crew, told the flight controllers.
The Dragon will remain docked to the space station through January and return to Earth a month later, splashing down into the Pacific Ocean, according to Florida Today.
"Dragon will perform a series of three burns to place it on a trajectory
away from the station," a SpaceX press release stated. "Mission Control Houston will then confirm that Dragon is on a safe path away from the station.
"Approximately five hours after Dragon leaves the station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts up to 10 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes for Dragon to reenter the Earth's atmosphere, allowing it to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, about 700 kilometers (380 nautical miles) off the coast of California," the release continued.
SpaceX had hoped to return the Falcon 9 rocket that launched the Dragon safely back to Earth Saturday so it could be reused but that part of the
mission failed, according to MIT Technology Review. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, though, remained optimistic on Twitter.