On May 22, 2012, SpaceX launched the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
The Dragon was the first American spacecraft to visit the space station since NASA ended the space shuttle program almost a year earlier. When the space shuttles were retired, NASA decided to contract private companies to start launching cargo to the space station. SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, launched over 1,000 lbs. of cargo to the space station with its new Dragon cargo craft. The vessel is actually designed to launch up to 13,000 lbs., but because this was a test flight, it wasn't filled to its maximum capacity. The Dragon brought supplies like food, water and clothing for the space station crew and several student experiments. Also on board were cremated remains of more than 300 people. This included the ashes of the Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty on "Star Trek." The mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket and arrived at the space station three days later.
The Dragon was the first American spacecraft to visit the space station since NASA ended the space shuttle program almost a year earlier. When the space shuttles were retired, NASA decided to contract private companies to start launching cargo to the space station. SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, launched over 1,000 lbs. of cargo to the space station with its new Dragon cargo craft. The vessel is actually designed to launch up to 13,000 lbs., but because this was a test flight, it wasn't filled to its maximum capacity. The Dragon brought supplies like food, water and clothing for the space station crew and several student experiments. Also on board were cremated remains of more than 300 people. This included the ashes of the Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty on "Star Trek." The mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket and arrived at the space station three days later.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space. On May 22, 2012, SpaceX launched the first commercial
00:07flight to the International Space Station. The Dragon was the first American
00:11spacecraft to visit the space station since NASA ended the space shuttle
00:14program almost a year earlier. When the space shuttles were retired, NASA decided
00:18to contract private companies to start launching cargo to the space station.
00:21SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, launched over 1,000 pounds of cargo to
00:26the space station with its new Dragon cargo craft. The vessel is actually
00:30designed to launch up to 13,000 pounds, but because this was a test flight it
00:34wasn't filled to its maximum capacity. The Dragon brought supplies like food, water,
00:38and clothing for the space station crew and several student experiments. Also on
00:43board were the cremated remains of more than 300 people. This included the ashes
00:48of the Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty
00:51on Star Trek. The mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket and
00:56arrived at the space station three days later. And that's what happened on this day in space.