Private Spacecraft Prepares for Historic Link to Space Station

(Image credit: SpaceX/CNN)

By the CNN Wire Staff

NASA said it has given the go ahead for the first private spacecraft
to proceed toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station on
Friday.

The unmanned SpaceX Dragon that launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral,
Florida, has successfully completed all tests so far in preparation for
a docking, the space agency said.

“The International Space Station mission management team completed a
thorough review of the progress … and … unanimously authorized the
International Space Station and Dragon flight control teams to proceed
toward rendezvous and berthing,” the NASA website said.

The capture of the spacecraft by the station’s robotic arm is
expected to take place around 8 a.m. ET, said Josh Byerly, a NASA
spokesman.

The Dragon capsule is carrying food, clothing and scientific experiments.

The mission, hailed by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as a step
toward a new future of private innovation in the space industry, comes
as government funding of the space program decreases in an era of fiscal
austerity.

According to a SpaceX statement, all has gone smoothly so far.

“Only minutes after the spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9
rocket’s second stage, its solar arrays successfully deployed, providing
power to the spacecraft,” the statement said. “The door that had been
covering sensors needed for proximity operations opened successfully.”

After that, Dragon orbited the Earth on Tuesday and Wednesday,
“firing its thrusters to catch up to the space station,” SpaceX’s
statement said.

On Thursday morning, “Dragon’s thrusters fired, bringing the vehicle
2.4 kilometers (about a mile and a half) below the International Space
Station,” and the craft established a communications link, the statement
added.

Connecting to the space station Friday will require NASA’s approval
in a staged approach that the statement called “the most difficult
aspects of the mission.”

Only after a series of maneuvers and tests are successful would the
Dragon craft be allowed to approach the space station, and astronauts
would “grapple Dragon with the space station’s robotic arm” to complete
the attachment, the statement said.

If the connection goes as planned, the space station crew will open Dragon’s hatch Saturday, it said.

Under the mission plan, Dragon will remain attached to the space
station for two weeks before it plummets back into the atmosphere and
splashes into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, according to
SpaceX.

Tuesday’s launch marked the culmination of six years of preparation
to bring commercial flights to the space station after the retirement of
NASA’s space shuttle fleet last year. It’s backed by entrepreneur Elon
Musk, the founder of PayPal.

The Falcon 9 rocket that carried Dragon into orbit launched without a
hitch Tuesday following a flawless countdown that came three days after
a faulty valve on one of the rocket’s engines forced a last-second
postponement.

At 180 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter, the Falcon 9 rocket is tiny
in comparison to the football-field-long Saturn V rockets that carried
Apollo spacecraft into orbit.

The cargo manifest for the trip included 674 pounds of food, clothing
and miscellaneous supplies, 46 pounds of supplies for use in science
experiments, 271 pounds of cargo bags for use in future flights and 22
pounds of computer equipment.

It will return with science experiments, hardware and used gear.

Cremated human remains were placed in the second stage of the Falcon
and will orbit the Earth. Celestis Inc. charges families $2,995 to
launch 1 gram of remains in this type of memorial spaceflight.

NASA’s Internet tool SkyWatch is providing information about viewing the Dragon from Earth.

The launch is an important step for NASA and the United States, which
currently has no means of independently reaching space. NASA relies on
the Russian space agency to ferry U.S. astronauts to orbit.

“What’s really important is not control, as much as it is the fact
that the United States will once again be in the lead, will be providing
our own vehicles to take our own astronauts and cargo to the
International Space Station,” Bolden said. “It’s fine to rely on
partners, but that’s not where the greatest nation in the world wants to
be.”

SpaceX is conducting the flight as part of a contract that could be
worth as much as $396 million, according to company spokeswoman Kirstin
Brost Grantham. The company has completed 37 of the 40 milestones in the
contract and has received $381 million so far, she said.

Musk likened the significance of the launch to the growth of the
commercial Internet — from its underpinnings as a government initiative
to the technological, economic and cultural engine it is today.

“I think we’re at a similar inflection point for space,” he said. “I
hope and I believe that this mission will be historic in marking that
turning point towards a rapid advancement in space transportation
technology.”

The first attempt to launch the rocket was halted Saturday when a
flight computer detected high pressure in an engine combustion chamber.
Workers replaced the valve Saturday, SpaceX said.

The company plans 11 more flights to the space station.

One of a handful of private companies receiving funds from NASA to
develop a space taxi system, SpaceX hopes the experience with the cargo
flights will help the company reach its goal of carrying astronauts
aboard the Dragon.

The company is developing a heavy-lift rocket with twice the cargo
capability of the space shuttle, and also dreams of building a
spacecraft that could carry a crew to Mars.