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The SpaceX Dragon capsule parachutes to its splashdown in the Pacific.
SpaceX reports that its Dragon spaceship has come down from orbit, made it through atmospheric re-entry, opened its parachutes and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean as planned.
"SPLASHDOWN!!!" SpaceX reported in a single-word Twitter update. In its own update, NASA's Johnson Space Center reported that "Dragon has splashed down on target."
Today's mission represented the Dragon's maiden test flight. The two-orbit circuit was the first in-space tryout for a craft that's meant to resupply the International Space Station after next year's scheduled retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet. Unless something went horribly wrong while the gumdrop-shaped craft was in orbit (interdimensional wormhole?), the mission can be considered fully successful.
In a follow-up tweet, California-based SpaceX said it was "the first commercial company to re-enter a spacecraft from space." Actually, another California company, Scaled Composites, accomplished that feat in 2004 with the suborbital SpaceShipOne rocket plane. But SpaceX was the first to return a private-sector craft from orbit.
(Of course, commercial enterprises have had a hand in building all of NASA's spacecraft, and SpaceX is relying on $278 million in NASA funding for Falcon/Dragon development -- but I hope you know what I mean. In this case, NASA is the client, not the operator. Mission control was run by SpaceX, not NASA. The rocket and the capsule featured SpaceX's logo, not NASA's.)
A SpaceX news conference is expected at NASA's Kennedy Space Center later today.
Stay tuned for updates on the Dragon's maiden space mission by checking Twitter (via @b0yle or @SpaceXer), or checking Cosmic Log's SpaceX coverage.
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Can I ride? Just gimme a pressure suit, an oxygen tank, a chair and a snickers bar, and I'm good. I'll even bring my own candy bar.
:-P "not going anywhere for awhile?"
Fantastic!!! What a tremendous milestone, to be the first commercial company to launch a vehicle into earth orbit and bring it back down safely. Not only that, but they did it at a small fraction of the cost it would have been for NASA to do the same thing. I hope that they get the craft certified for transporting astronauts quickly. I hate the idea that the US will have to rely on Russia to get our astronauts back and forth to the international space station once the space shuttle is retired early next year.
Big congrats to the entire Space team. You have shown once again what Americans are capable of when they put their minds to something.
The Dragon capsule is unmanned, designed to haul freight and satellites. No word yet on when Space-X will make a manned version.
Congratulations!
This may be the most important day in spaceflight since Yuri Gagarin said, "Poyekhali!"
Congrats, SpaceX!
The best "there is hope for humanity" article I've seen in 10 years. Go SpaceX!
Jeez, I feel like I'm 6 years old again (1964). Way to go SpaceX!
We are always proud of the scientific and space achievement of the world lead by the United States-NASA. I am optimistic that I will see in my life time an American feet touches Mars Land !!!
Let me just echo the wonderful enthusiasm that I've seen so far! Congratulation SpaceX! This is truly a momentous occasion. The first commercial enterprise to successfully launch, orbit, and return to Earth a spaceship. I look forward to the first cargo run to the ISS and the testing of Dragon so it can transport humans. What a day! Again, my sincerest congratulations to all involved in bringing this project to it's current success and my best wishes to the program going forward.
If only reaching for the stars could generate as much excitement and public support as "Dancing with the Stars".
Now THERE's an idea! Let's send Bristol to that space up there!
I wonder if she'll be able to see Russia? ;~D
Maybe once commercial companies sell tickets to go into orbit, they should create a reality show where people go into space to generate interest?
I am sorry, but I come from a generation that saw man land on the moon. This effort while commendable, is going from the space shuttle to launching bottle rockets. Sad that this is NASA's vision for the future. It's like GM going out of business so Joe's Hardware can sell us model T's. I don't need a re-run of early spaceflight. Been there. Done that.
For me, it feels like "been there done that" is finally coming back into view after 40 years. (Yes, I come from that same generation!) Maybe it's the idea that we have a "SPLASHDOWN" today. Or maybe it's just the idea that we have a new orbital spaceship that can go up and come back down ... America's first new breed of that kind of vessel in almost 30 years. (I'm not forgetting about the Bigelow space modules here.)
Whoa, come one guys, this is not a been there done that moment! This is a private venture doing something governments have had a monopoly on for the entirety of the space era! Maybe that monopoly is simply due to lack of interest or funding but that monopoly has persisted none the less. The government has done this. The government has been there. That is true, you are correct about that. and it may not hold the same wow factor for you guys, but for me this is amazing. I was born in October '81. I'm about as old as the space shuttle fleet. I was not around for the moon landing in '69. I can understand how nothing could compare to that. But I can't stress enough the importance of having private companies building the foundation of what will become the new space industry. This will inevitably drive prices down and open up opportunities not found in a government run program. I really believe in a robust government space program. I advocate investing heavily in it. But I also believe the private sector has a large role to play. And I can't help but feel that someday average people on this planet will be able to travel beyond Earth's confines and today marks a large step in the process that will lead to that goal.
Mob_barley is right - this isn't a "been there; done that" moment. Why? Because no one other than NASA or another Government agency has ever done this before. Scaled Composites reached space, but they did not have to contend with orbiting or de-orbiting successfully - however, their achievement is no less notable as they were the first private company to successfully send a human to space.
The folks in Congress who can't believe that anyone other than NASA can pull this off are going to have to eat crow now - well, they should, but you know how Congress-criters are.
This represents that a private company CAN do this - that's a huge step towards the industrialization of space, which is the Next Big Thing for humanity. It means that these companies can take their successful hardware and not only provide services for NASA, but also turn a profit in the satellite launch business. It means both more high-tech jobs in the private sector, as well as blue-collar (someone's got to build the facilities) as investors rush to put money into these companies and they hire. SpaceX, OSC, etc. are not going to ship these jobs overseas - they know where their bread is buttered and it'll be Americans they put to work.
Awesome, good job SpaceX... With similar success from Orbital Sciences Corp, here's hoping that NASA will finally be able to focus more budget on EXPLORATION, manned and unmanned, beyond earth orbit.
Thanks, and kudos!
Precisely! This is what NASA has always done exceptionally well at (look, the Martian Air Force shot down some of our probes, but, you win some, you lose some...).
We've been in LEO for so long now that it's time to let those who know how to make money at it be given their shot, and this will do that.
Go SpaceX! Go Bigelow! Go Scaled Composites! You are our real hope for a sustained and increasing American presence in space. Without you, China will own the moon while we huddle here on Earth.
If China ever attempts to "own" the moon you will see action on our part to show the world otherwise. It is the world's moon, not a single nation's. The international community would not sit idly by and watch as China sets up an infrastructure that could be in any way construed as them "owning" the Moon.
I think Taylor was just speaking figuratively. They seem to be catching up at a tremendous pace, and we really don't need them or anyone else to pass us by and leave us eating their cosmic dust.
Can't wait to see whats ahead for commercial space flight. What excitement! now the question remains....will it turn into the current air travel nightmare? or will we be able to protect it better then air travel?
I was 7 when the first launch happened, this is obamas way of creating new jobs. I recently saw the last terminator movie, maybe this will be the skynet company who will make the robots that want to kill us all?
The parent network of MSNBC got it wrong on tonight's Nightly News. Brian Williams reported this as a NASA launch of a vehicle called "Space Ex" , instead of the company SpaceX launching is proprietary commercial Dragon capsule on Falcon.
NBC needs some fact checkers. MSNBC had it right all day and did a good job of reporting this momentous event on and off Earth.
Fantastic ! Just like watching Apollo splash down. Go commercial space flight !