SpaceX Dragon Hooks Up with ISS in Orbit

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The International Space Station's crew reached out today with a robotic arm to grab SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule and brought it in for the orbital outpost's first-ever hookup with a commercial spaceship.

It marks the station's first linkup with a U.S.-made spacecraft since last year's retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet, and potentially opens the way for dozens of commercial cargo shipments. If the long-range plan unfolds as NASA hopes, U.S. astronauts could be shuttled back and forth on the Dragon or similar spacecraft within just a few years.

"Today, this really is the beginning of a new era in commercial spaceflight," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program. _CosmicLog

Keep watching the video through the initial ad, the news story, and subsequent ad. The actual video footage of the linkup itself is provided along with a view of the Houston control centre. More SpaceX news coverage follows after each subsequent ad.

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