New Delhi: In a major and historic development, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, with two NASA astronauts onboard, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) as planned on Sunday morning. Also Read – Watch: Historic Moment as SpaceX Rocket Lifts Off With Two NASA Astronauts, Incredible, Says Trump
In a statement today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said, “SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with two NASA astronauts–Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley docked to the International Space Station.” Also Read – NASA And SpaceX Postpone Historic Launch of Two Astronauts to Space
SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with 2 NASA astronauts – Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley docked to the International Space Station: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (file pic) pic.twitter.com/HAyDmnzNlH Also Read – ‘We’re Ready,’ NASA Ready to Launch First SpaceX Flight; Take-off Tonight
— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2020
“Docking confirmed-Crew Dragon has arrived at the Space Station,” tweeted the official SpaceX twitter account, referring to the ISS.
Docking confirmed – Crew Dragon has arrived at the @space_station! pic.twitter.com/KiKBpZ8R2H
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2020
Notably, the two astronauts-Behnken and Hurley-will now perform standard ISS crew activities including conducting experiments and research, during the next several weeks, before they board the spacecraft again for the final portion-their trip back to Earth.
SpaceX was launched on Saturday from Flordia’s Cape Canaveral as per its revised schedule. It was scheduled to take off on Wednesday but weather conditions led to launch being postponed till Saturday. The mission marks the first flight of a NASA crew from the US soil since 2011.
This is also the first launch of a rocket owned by a private firm, in this case Tesla.
