William Atkins Tuesday, 22 May 2012 21:52 <\/p>\n
Science - Space <\/p>\n
Page 1 of 2 <\/p>\n
The SpaceX Dragon space capsule was successfully launched early in the morning of Tuesday, May 22, 2012, for its historic mission to the International Space Station the first trip to the ISS for a commercial space vehicle. <\/p>\n
Then, at 3:44:38 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) the calm was disrupted as the9 first-stage engines of the Falcon 9 burst alive beginning an historic flight of the first commercial spacecraft to the Space Station. <\/p>\n
The rocket was released from launch complex 41 (LC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is located next to the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, and quickly thrust the Dragon spacecraft upward into the sky <\/p>\n
SpaceX mission controllers reported no significant problems leading up to the launch and the first-stage engines burned normally for about three minutes. <\/p>\n
They then shut down in a pre-programmed sequence after sending the spacecraft on a northeasterly trajectory. The first stage then fell away, as one Merlin second-stage engine burst to life and continued the Dragons trip to the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
The second-stage rocket burned for about 9 minutes, 14 seconds, as its remaining fuel was exhausted. A few seconds later, the Dragon space capsule separated from its second stage, alone for the remaining trip to the Space Station. <\/p>\n
Page two concludes. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The rest is here:<\/p>\n
SpaceX successfully blasts off to Space Station<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" William Atkins Tuesday, 22 May 2012 21:52 Science - Space Page 1 of 2 The SpaceX Dragon space capsule was successfully launched early in the morning of Tuesday, May 22, 2012, for its historic mission to the International Space Station the first trip to the ISS for a commercial space vehicle. Then, at 3:44:38 a.m. Continue reading