Friday, June 15, 2012

HEAD OF NASA AND CEO OF SPACEX VIEW THE CAPSULE AFTER RETURN FROM SPACE


FROM:  NASA
Bolden, Musk and the Dragon
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, congratulates SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk in front of the historic Dragon capsule that returned to Earth on May 31 following the first successful mission by a private company to carry supplies to the International Space Station. 

Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic mission. 

This image was taken on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule to complete a mission to the International Space Station. 

NASA ADMINISTRATOR BOLDEN VIEWS HISTORIC SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and 
Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in 
McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule 
to complete a mission to the International Space Station. 
Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees 
working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic 
mission. SpaceX's Dragon capsule made history May 31 when it returned 
to Earth after delivering supplies to the space station. 

"The Dragon capsule is a tangible example of the new era of 
exploration unfolding right now," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden 
said. "Commercial space is becoming a reality as SpaceX and our other 
commercial partners look ahead to future missions to the space 
station and other destinations. I congratulate Elon Musk and the 
entire SpaceX team again for this historic milestone." 

While on-site, Bolden had the opportunity to view some of the 1,367 
pounds of cargo the spacecraft returned to Earth from the space 
station. Dragon is the only spacecraft capable of returning a 
significant quantity of science experiments and cargo from the 
station. Experiments will be given back to researchers hoping to gain 
new insights provided by the station's unique microgravity 
environment. The cargo was transferred to NASA June 13 and will be 
taken to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston for further 
processing. 

Dragon's journey to the station was SpaceX's second demonstration 
mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services 
Program (COTS), which provides investments intended to lead to 
regular resupply missions to the International Space Station and 
stimulate the commercial space industry in the United States. The 
mission began May 22 as the capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Air 
Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After its 
maneuverability and abort systems were tested, crew members of 
Expedition 31 aboard the station grappled the capsule and berthed it 
to the orbiting laboratory. 

Dragon, its exterior scorched by the heat of re-entry, splashed down 
in the Pacific Ocean May 31. SpaceX recovered the capsule immediately 
and transported it to McGregor, where engineers unloaded cargo and 
removed hazardous materials. Dragon will be shipped to SpaceX 
Headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., later this year. 

On Thursday, Bolden and Musk will be at SpaceX Headquarters and speak 
with reporters at 9 a.m. PDT. They will see the Dragon spacecraft 
that flew the first COTS demonstration mission in December 2010, 
during which SpaceX became the first private company to recover a 
spacecraft after it orbited Earth. They also will see a prototype 
Dragon spacecraft being designed to carry astronauts to the space 
station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. 


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