First commercial rocket flight to the International Space Station

50 Most Important Events of 2012 – 08.10.2012/XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX

The first flight of a commercial rocket with a mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon rocket launched the Dragon module into orbit and successfully docked it with the ISS.

Launching a rocket into orbit today is not news that would electrify millions. However, the flight of the Falcon 9 (Falcon) and its delivery of the Dragon capsule with supplies to the International Space Station should be considered a historic event. It was the first such mission carried out by a completely private structure - the work of SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation).

NASA has not had any ships or rockets ready for this type of mission since June 2012, when the shuttle Atlantis left service after its last flight.

The Falcon's flight into orbit was not entirely smooth. During launch, 89 seconds into the flight, SpaceX engineers called one of the rocket's nine engines an "anomaly." The slow motion video we are sharing shows what it looked like from the outside. You can see that the "anomaly" looks like an explosion.

However, the incident did not stop the mission. The engine responsible for the "Anomaly"? was immediately stopped, and the Falcon entered orbit with a slight delay according to plan. The designers emphasize that the ability to complete the mission despite such a problem is not so bad, but rather good for the rocket, adding that it could still complete the task even after losing two engines. They recall that the legendary giant Saturn-XNUMX lost an engine twice while being launched into orbit, nevertheless successfully completing its missions.

As a result of the incident, the Dragon capsule entered orbit 30 seconds later than planned. It did not have any negative impact on the rest of the mission. It connected to the ISS as planned, as we can see in the simulation movie added here.

space anomaly launch slow motion