Dragon capsule tamed, closing in on space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The Dragon has been tamed, and it's almost at the International Space Station.
The commercial cargo ship owned by the SpaceX company quickly closed in on the orbiting lab early Sunday morning. Station astronauts will use a hefty robot arm to grab it out of orbit. The capsule is loaded with more than 1 ton of supplies.
SpaceX launched the Dragon into orbit Friday and quickly ran into trouble. A clogged pressure line or stuck valve kept the thrusters, or little maneuvering rockets, from working. Flight controllers finally got the thrusters up and managed to salvage the supply mission.
The Dragon's arrival is just one day late.
NASA is paying Calif-based SpaceX $1.6 billion for a series of supply runs. This is the third Dragon to visit the manned outpost.