SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft successfully blasted off on Wednesday, December 8, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:43 a.m.
In orbit, the Dragon capsule went through several maneuvers before it re-entered the atmosphere and splashed down three hours later in the Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles west of the coast of Mexico.
Today, history was made in that the Dragon capsule is the first demonstration flight and privately owned ship for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to return safely from earth’s orbit. It is expected to provide cargo flights to the International Space Station in the future.
