It is hard to believe that less than one week ago the Falcon 9 rocket stood on Launchpad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station waiting to launch the Dragon capsule into orbit. Although there was a successful abort Saturday morning during the first launch attempt, the rocket, capsule and its cargo lifted off early Tuesday morning from the Florida Space Coast enroute to the International Space Station (ISS).
After passing several test scenarios that proved Dragon could be properly ordered to maneuver in and around the ISS the final Go was given earlier today to bring the commercial capsule within 10 meters from the stations robotic arm.
After a final go for capture NASA Astronaut Don Pettit reached out with the stations Canada Arm and grabbed Dragon. Although history has been made ever since launch this does mark the first time that a commercial spacecraft has been docked to the ISS.
Here is a collection of screen captures, courtesy of NASA TV, that I grabbed throughout this mornings activities.
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