The spaceflight company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, launched the world's first commercial space capsule into orbit and returned to Earth today in a huge leap forward for California-based company, private spaceflight and NASA's plan to rely on such spacecraft in the future.
SpaceX's first Dragon space capsule, as it is known, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:43 a.m. EST (1543 GMT) today (Dec. 8), completed two orbits around Earth and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 500 miles (nearly 804 km) off the coast of Mexico to end what appears to be a successful demonstration flight.
Hang Time: SpaceX's first Dragon spacecraft dangles under its three main parachutes just before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles west of Mexico to complete its maiden test flight on Dec. 8, 2010. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the landing almost a bull's eye, with the Dragon capsule splashing down just 10 miles away from its target zone.
SPLASHDOWN! Once the Dragon spacecraft was flying alone in space, it was time to record the view. This photo was released by SpaceX while Dragon was still in space. It shows the view from a camera mounted in the spacecraft's circular window.
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