LIFTOFF!
December 18, 2012
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is illuminated by a Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off at 8:35 p.m. EDT carrying a Dragon capsule to orbit. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, built both the rocket and capsule for NASA's first Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS-1, mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX CRS-1 is an important step toward making America’s microgravity research program self-sufficient by providing a way to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo, including science experiments, to and from the orbiting laboratory. NASA has contracted for 12 commercial resupply flights from SpaceX and eight from the Orbital Sciences Corp.
Oct. 7, 2012
Photo credit: NASA/Gianni Woods
Topics:
Spacecraft, Space technology, Spaceflight, Technology Internet, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space station, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40, Falcon, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dragon, Falcon 9, Exploration of the Moon, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, SpaceX
