DRAGON READIES TO SOAR TO SPACE STATION

FROM: NASA
Dragon Prepares to Resupply Station

The Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Dragon spacecraft stands inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings.

NASA and its international partners are targeting Friday, March 1, as the launch date for the next cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station by SpaceX. Launch is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule will be filled with about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA ADMINISTRATOR BOLDEN VIEWS THE DRAGON CAPSULE

FROM:  NASA
Bolden, Musk and the Dragon
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, congratulates SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk in front of the historic Dragon capsule that returned to Earth on May 31 following the first successful mission by a private company to carry supplies to the International Space Station.
Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic mission.
This image was taken on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule to complete a mission to the International Space Station.

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined SpaceX CEO and
Chief Designer Elon Musk at the SpaceX Rocket Development Facility in
McGregor, Texas, Wednesday to see the first commercial space capsule
to complete a mission to the International Space Station.
Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees
working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic
mission. SpaceX's Dragon capsule made history May 31 when it returned
to Earth after delivering supplies to the space station.

"The Dragon capsule is a tangible example of the new era of
exploration unfolding right now," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
said. "Commercial space is becoming a reality as SpaceX and our other
commercial partners look ahead to future missions to the space
station and other destinations. I congratulate Elon Musk and the
entire SpaceX team again for this historic milestone."

While on-site, Bolden had the opportunity to view some of the 1,367
pounds of cargo the spacecraft returned to Earth from the space
station. Dragon is the only spacecraft capable of returning a
significant quantity of science experiments and cargo from the
station. Experiments will be given back to researchers hoping to gain
new insights provided by the station's unique microgravity
environment. The cargo was transferred to NASA June 13 and will be
taken to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston for further
processing.

Dragon's journey to the station was SpaceX's second demonstration
mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Program (COTS), which provides investments intended to lead to
regular resupply missions to the International Space Station and
stimulate the commercial space industry in the United States. The
mission began May 22 as the capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After its
maneuverability and abort systems were tested, crew members of
Expedition 31 aboard the station grappled the capsule and berthed it
to the orbiting laboratory.

Dragon, its exterior scorched by the heat of re-entry, splashed down
in the Pacific Ocean May 31. SpaceX recovered the capsule immediately
and transported it to McGregor, where engineers unloaded cargo and
removed hazardous materials. Dragon will be shipped to SpaceX
Headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., later this year.

On Thursday, Bolden and Musk will be at SpaceX Headquarters and speak
with reporters at 9 a.m. PDT. They will see the Dragon spacecraft
that flew the first COTS demonstration mission in December 2010,
during which SpaceX became the first private company to recover a
spacecraft after it orbited Earth. They also will see a prototype
Dragon spacecraft being designed to carry astronauts to the space
station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA

HOUSTON -- SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 
at 11:42 a.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California, 
Mexico, marking a successful end to the first mission by a commercial 
company to resupply the International Space Station. 

"Congratulations to the teams at SpaceX and NASA who worked hard to 
make this first commercial mission to the International Space Station 
an overwhelming success," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. 
"This successful splashdown and the many other achievements of this 
mission herald a new era in U.S. commercial spaceflight. American 
innovation and inspiration have once again shown their great strength 
in the design and operation of a new generation of vehicles to carry 
cargo to our laboratory in space. Now more than ever we're counting 
on the inventiveness of American companies and American workers to 
make the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit 
destinations accessible to any and all who have dreams of space 
travel." 

The Dragon capsule will be taken by boat to a port near Los Angeles, 
where it will be prepared for a return journey to SpaceX's test 
facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing. Some cargo will be 
removed at the port in California and returned to NASA within 48 
hours. The remainder will be returned to Texas with the capsule. 

The capsule delivered to the station 1,014 pounds of supplies 
including experiments, food, clothing and technology. On its return 
trip to Earth, the capsule carried science experiments that will be 
returned to researchers hoping to gain new insights provided by the 
unique microgravity environment in the station's laboratories. In 
addition to the experiments, Dragon returned a total of 1,367 pounds 
of hardware and cargo no longer needed aboard the station. 

Dragon's journey to the space station was SpaceX's second 
demonstration mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation 
Services (COTS) Program, which provides investments to stimulate the 
commercial space industry in America. The mission began May 22 as the 
capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida 
aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Following a series of tests of its 
maneuverability and abort systems, the capsule was grappled and 
berthed to the space station by the crew members of Expedition 31 
aboard the orbiting complex. 

In the next several weeks, NASA will evaluate the Dragon capsule's 
mission performance to close out remaining COTS milestones. Once that 
work is completed NASA and SpaceX will set the target date for the 
company's first full cargo mission. 

In addition to fostering the development of new American cargo 
vehicles, NASA also is helping spur innovation and development of new 
spacecraft and launch vehicles from the commercial industry to 
develop safe, reliable and cost-effective capabilities to transport 
astronauts to low Earth orbit and the space station. 

NASA also is developing the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System 
(SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket that will provide an 
entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. 
Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo 
missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth 
orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system. 

SPACEX DRAGON HEADS INTO SPACE AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA
The Launch of SpaceX Dragon
KSC-2012-2897 (22 May 2012) --- The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into space from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:44 a.m. (EDT) May 22, 2012, carrying the Dragon capsule to orbit. The launch is the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, Program. During the flight, the Dragon will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station's Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two aerospace companies to deliver cargo to the station. Photo credit: NASA

SPACEX DRAGON LIFTS OFF

FROM:  NASA
The Launch of SpaceX Dragon
KSC-2012-2913 (22 May 2012) --- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space Launch Complex-40 is ablaze as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 3:44 a.m. (EDT) May 22, 2012. The launch is the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program. During the flight, the Dragon capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station's Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two aerospace companies to deliver cargo to the station. Photo credit: NASA

SPACEX PREPARES FOR LAUNCH

FROM:  NASA
SpaceX and NASA Prepare for Launch
In a processing facility at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space Exploration Technologies technicians attach the Dragon capsule to the second stage of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. Known as SpaceX, the launch will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS. During the flight, the capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the NanoRacks-CubeLabs Module-9 experiments and other cargo aboard Dragon will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station’s Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two private companies to provide resupply missions to the station. The launch is TBD. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spacex. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann