SpaceX lance Dragon vers la Station spatiale internationale et ramène sa fusée (VIDÉO)

La firme américaine SpaceX a réussi dans la nuit de lundi la propulsion de la capsule Dragon vers la Station spatiale internationale avant de parvenir à ramener sur Terre la fusée Falcon qui avait servi au lancement.

Environ 10 minutes après le décollage, Falcon s'est posée à la verticale à la base de l'armée de l'air américaine à Cap Canaveral, en Floride, à environ trois kilomètres du pas de tir du Centre spatial Kennedy.

Hans Koenigsmann, vice-président chez SpaceX, a témoigné de la grande satisfaction de l'équipe ayant oeuvré à la mission.

SpaceX récupère sa fusée afin de la réutiliser à plusieurs reprises dans le but de réduire les coûts de lancement.

La capsule Dragon, poussée dans l'espace par Falcon au milieu de la nuit, transporte environ 2270 kilogrammes de nourriture et d'équipements divers pour l'équipage de la Station spatiale. L'amarrage devrait avoir lieu mercredi.

Voir aussi:

ABS/EUTELSAT Separation

"SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket delivered the ABS 3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B satellites to a supersynchronous transfer orbit, launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 10:50pm ET."

DSCOVR

"Just before sunset at 6:03pm ET on Wednesday, Feb. 11th, Falcon 9 lifted off from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. carrying the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite on SpaceX’s first deep space mission."

CRS-5

"SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for their fifth official Commercial Resupply (CRS) mission to the orbiting lab on Saturday, January 10 at 4:47am EST. Dragon returned to Earth four-and-a-half weeks later with a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California. Dragon is the only operational spacecraft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments."

CRS-5

CRS-5 ISS Streak

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for their fifth official Commercial Resupply (CRS) mission to the orbiting lab on Saturday, January 10 at 4:47am EST. Dragon returned to Earth four-and-a-half weeks later with a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California. Dragon is the only operational spacecraft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments.

CRS-5

CRS-5

CRS-4

CRS-5

Crew Dragon Interior

"The SpaceX unveil event of Crew Dragon, the next generation spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to Earth orbit and beyond. The spacecraft will be capable of carrying up to seven crewmembers, landing propulsively almost anywhere on Earth, and refueling and flying again for rapid reusability. As a modern, 21st century manned spacecraft, Crew Dragon will revolutionize access to space."