Berth of a Dragon after Thruster Failure Recovery Establishes American Lifeline to ISS

(Before It's News)

SpaceX Dragon berthing at ISS on March 3, 2013. Credit: NASA

Kennedy Space Center – After overcoming a frightening thruster failure that could have spelled rapid doom on the heels of a breathtakingly beautiful launch, the privately developed Dragon spacecraft successfully berthed at the International Space Station (ISS) a short while ago, at 8:56 a.m. EST Sunday morning, March 3, 2013 – thereby establishing an indispensable American Lifeline to the massive orbiting lab complex.

Hearts sank and hopes rose in the span of a few troubling hours following Friday’s (Mar. 1) flawless launch of the Dragon cargo resupply capsule atop the 15 story tall Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and the initial failure of the life giving solar arrays to deploy and failure of the maneuvering thrusters to fire. (…)
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© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: Commercial Space, commercial spaceflight, Dragon capsule, Falcon 9, International Space Station (ISS), ISS, NASA, Space X Dragon, SpaceX, SpaceX.Commercial Space

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