Space X Dragon Splashes Down

Space X's Dragon Spacecraft splashed down today (May 31) after being the first commercial cargo spacecraft to deliver supplies to the Space Station. It is also the first cargo spacecraft to return intact from the Space Station, which would allow it to also bring cargo back from the space station. Other cargo craft are designed to burn up on reentry.

Dragon currently is only rated for cargo, but SpaceX Corporation plans to be able to ferry astronauts to and from the space station within a few years. They have several configurations of a crew-rated capsule, obne of which can be configured to carry 7 astronauts.

Since the retirment of the shuttle, the US relies soley on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to get their astronauts to and from the space station, and (until Dragon) relied solely on the Russians and Europeans to deliver cargo.

Here is a video of the splashdown (not very good quality)

Video of Dragon Splashdown


More info on the Dragon Spacecraft:
SpaceX Dragon

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Great news for private space
i'm quite excited about space-x and their plans for the "falcon heavy"

The Falcon Heavy is a planned heavy-lift configuration using a cluster of three Falcon 9 first stage cores with a total 27 uprated Merlin 1D engines and propellant cross-feed.[63] SpaceX is aiming for the first demo flight of the Falcon Heavy in 2013.[63]

SpaceX anticipates a Falcon Heavy demonstration rocket will arrive at Vandenberg AFB, California, in 2012[6], with a launch planned for 2013.[8] The first launch from the Cape Canaveral launch complex is planned for 2013 or 2014. Cost of reaching low Earth orbit can be as low as 1000 USD/pound, if an annual rate of four launches can be sustained. SpaceX plans to launch 10 Falcon Heavy and 10 Falcon 9 annually.

Falcon Heavy can be used to send a crewed Dragon spacecraft on lunar orbiting missions – such as the Apollo 8 mission; or be used to send a modified unpiloted Dragon on a Mars landing mission. Musk has stated that his intention for the company is to help in the creation of a permanent human presence on Mars.

Falcon Heavy (Wikipedia)

and this
Red Dragon (wikipedia)
i wish i was an astronaught, i'd even do it without any pay.