Vampiel
June 4th, 2010, 06:15 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10209704.stm
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has enjoyed a successful maiden test flight after the first launch attempted was aborted.
The rocket, which could one day carry astronauts, blasted-off from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1845 GMT.
..................
US President Barack Obama, who inspected the rocket on its pad in April, has said he wanted the business of taxiing astronauts to and from the International Space Station handed to the commercial sector.
Many commentators believe the Falcon is in a prime position to win that business.
.................
On future flights, Dragon will be filled with supplies for the International Space Station.
Historically, the maiden flights of rockets have a notoriously high failure rate. Some two-thirds of the rockets introduced in the past 20 years have had an unsuccessful first outing.
Millionaire Elon Musk set up SpaceX in 2002 and has already flown a much smaller rocket called the Falcon 1.
Interesting, especially seeing as to how NASA is going to release a new design for space flight in 2015.
Here's the new NASA spacecraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has enjoyed a successful maiden test flight after the first launch attempted was aborted.
The rocket, which could one day carry astronauts, blasted-off from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1845 GMT.
..................
US President Barack Obama, who inspected the rocket on its pad in April, has said he wanted the business of taxiing astronauts to and from the International Space Station handed to the commercial sector.
Many commentators believe the Falcon is in a prime position to win that business.
.................
On future flights, Dragon will be filled with supplies for the International Space Station.
Historically, the maiden flights of rockets have a notoriously high failure rate. Some two-thirds of the rockets introduced in the past 20 years have had an unsuccessful first outing.
Millionaire Elon Musk set up SpaceX in 2002 and has already flown a much smaller rocket called the Falcon 1.
Interesting, especially seeing as to how NASA is going to release a new design for space flight in 2015.
Here's the new NASA spacecraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29