Private Spacecraft Plans Landmark Docking With ISS

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Private Spacecraft Plans Landmark Docking With International Space Station
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Fly me to the moon? Sure thing.

Private spaceflight company Space Exploration (SpaceX) has received tentative approval from NASA to send its Dragon cargo craft on a landmark first mission to the International Space Station on November 30, which would make it the first private company to dock with the space station.

A successful docking on December 9 would be a dramatic validation of NASA's plan to replace the now-retired space shuttle fleet with cheaper, private vehicles -- though how the space agency would send astronauts to space remains an open question.

The Dragon capsule.... READ FULL STORY

[LKTraz]

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There is speculation that we will be using Russia's Soyuz vehicles to send our astronauts to the ISS. Of course the Russians won't mind collecting fees for the ride one little bit, now will they?

[Twitchin Kitten]

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We've hitched rides with them before so it's no surprise. But, if this thing goes as planned, AND it seems to be ahead of schedule, why not use our private entrepreneurs instead?