SpaceX Dragon REVEALED: See inside SpaceX capsule that docked with ISS – WATCH

SpaceX has revolutionised the space race with their reusable rocket technology. In the past few years, SpaceX has mastered launching Falcon 9 rockets and putting payloads into space. And this weekend, the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX started its next chapter, after an unmanned Dragon capsule successfully docked with ISS.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 this weekend successfully blasted a Dragon spacecraft into orbit.

To be frank, I’m a little emotionally exhausted. Because that was super stressful

Elon Musk

But the next step was trickier: an engineering error could put the SpaceX Dragon capsule, the ISS, or both at risk.

Kirk Shireman, the manager of the ISS program, said: “The ISS still has three people on board, and so this vehicle coming up to the ISS for the first time has to work. It has to work.”

SpaceX manufactured the Dragon capsule, as part of a NASA program to return human spaceflight to US soil for the first time since 2011.

The mission was unmanned, carrying only a spacesuit-clad mannequin and 400 pounds of cargo.

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SpaceX Dragon ISS Mission

SpaceX Dragon: The capsule this weekend successfully docked with the ISS (Image: Getty/SpaceX)

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket docked with the International Space Station

SpaceX: The capsule docks with the International Space Station (Image: SpaceX)

But there could be humans on board by the summer – if the mission goes well.

SpaceX has visited the ISS before as it is signed contracts with NASA the company to transport supplies.

When those cargo-carrying capsules approach, a powerful robotic arm on the ISS, controlled by an astronaut inside, pulls them towards a port.

But the crew-carrying Dragon capsule is designed for a far more complicated rendezvous.

The ISS has spent years preparing for privately-built spacecraft like Dragon for years.

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SpaceX delivered a new docking port in 2016.

Astronauts installed new wiring and even rerouted ventilation in this part of the station so that power and air could flow to the spacecraft once it was docked.

Susan Freeman, an ISS engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, said: “It was a massive modification with an incredible amount of hardware.”

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is fitted with cutting-edge software, sensors and lasers to autonomously guide it toward and then stick itself to a ISS port.

But while ISS astronauts can guide the capsule’s computers as it approaches but the final docking is up to the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

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Elon Musk SpaceX

SpaceX: Elon Musk later admitted to being ’emotionally exhausted’ (Image: Getty)

SpaceX Dragon docks with the ISS

SpaceX: The Dragon capsule docks with the ISS (Image: SpaceX)

After reaching space, the Dragon spacecraft circled the Earth 18 times, firing engines to put itself on a trajectory toward the ISS.

When the Dragon capsule approached the ISS, it moved closer and then backed away, practicing a retreat designed for emergencies.

Then, at 11am GMT (6am ET) on Sunday, the Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS.

For the first time in nearly eight years, an American-built spacecraft designed to carry humans joined with mankind’s home in space.

Cameras on the ISS captured the slow and steady approach.

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A cover at the front of the spaceship had been flipped open soon after launch, revealing an array of springs.

As the Dragon made contact with a port on the ISS, the springs absorbed the impact.

On the port, a dozen hooks latched the capsule into place.

“To be frank, I’m a little emotionally exhausted,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said an hour after the launch.

“Because that was super stressful. But it worked—so far. We have to dock with station, we have to come back. But so far, it’s worked.”

source: express.co.uk