SpaceX Achieves Fif Consecutive Falcon 9 Launch During Second Official Cargo Resupply Miion

SPACEX ACHIEVES FIFTH CONSECUTIVE FALCON 9 LAUNCH DURING SECOND OFFICIAL CARGO RESUPPLY MISSION

Dragon spacecraft heads toward International Space Station

Hawthorne, Calif. Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to orbit for SpaceXs second mission under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Falcon 9 completed its job perfectly, continuing its 100 percent success rate.

Falcon 9 was designed to be the worlds most reliable rocket, and todays launch validated this by adding to Falcon 9s perfect track record with our fifth success in a row, said Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX.

After Dragon separated from Falcon 9s second stage approximately nine minutes after launch, a minor issue with some of Dragons oxidizer tanks was detected. Within a few hours, SpaceX engineers had identified and corrected the issue, normalizing the oxidizer pressure and returning operations to normal. Dragon recomputed its ascent profile as it was designed to and is now on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) with possible arrival on Sunday, just one day past the original timeline.

Dragon is the only spacecraft in the world today capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth. Dragon is traveling to the ISS with over 2,300 pounds of pressurized and unpressurized cargo and packaging to ensure safe travel, and will return with over 3,000 pounds. Dragon will stay on station for a three-week visit, during which astronauts will unload cargo and supplies for the ISS, including critical materials to support science investigations, then fill the capsule with a payload that includes research results, education experiments and space station hardware.

Updates on the CRS-2 mission can be found at www.spacex.com/webcast. Broadcast quality video may be downloaded at vimeo.com/spacexlaunch and high-resolution photos are posted at spacexlaunch.zenfolio.com.

About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches the worlds most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Today, SpaceX is advancing the boundaries of space technology through its Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has more than 3,000 employees in California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Florida. For more information, visit SpaceX.com.

LINK:	http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20130301...
	See more stories from spacex

Most recent headlines