The International Space Station's Expedition 31 crew grappled and attached SpaceX's Dragon capsule to the space station Friday. This is the first time a commercial company has accomplished this type of space operation.
"Today marks another critical step in the future of American spaceflight," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Now that a U.S. company has proven its ability to resupply the space station, it opens a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space -- and new job creation opportunities right here in the U.S. By handing off space station transportation to the private sector, NASA is freed up to carry out the really hard work of sending astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before. The Obama Administration has set us on an ambitious path forward and the NASA and SpaceX teams are proving they are up to the task."
Unencumbered by the bureaucratic constraints of government funding, the private space industry is poised to go into warp drive. And that can only be a good thing! To read more, click here.