.jpg)
OAK HILL -- The SpaceX rocket was launched Oct. 7, into the stars with private enterprise taking over for NASA in delivering cargo to the International Space Station. Countless people along the Atlantic Coastlines of Brevard and Volusia counties took to the beaches or intercoastal waterways to see the 8:35 p.m. Sunday liftoff.
Some like Linda Hyatt of Oak Hill could see it from their own backyards. Hyatt, then-vice mayor and a city commissioner, noted: "Although we have had to say good-bye to the space shuttle program, apparently all is not lost across Mosquito Lagoon. At the launch site at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station stood a Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from Kennedy Space Center for the International Space Station."
Some like Linda Hyatt of Oak Hill, could see it from their own backyards. Hyatt, then-vice mayor and a city commissioner, noted: "Although we have had to say good-bye to the space shuttle program, apparently all is not lost across Mosquito Lagoon. At the launch site at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station stood a Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from Kennedy Space Center for the International Space Station."
The Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket carrying its Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral, beginning NASA's first contracted cargo delivery flight, designated SpaceX CRS-1, to the International Space Station.
Here is a sumarry from NASA on the SpaceX mission:
Under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract, SpaceX will fly at least 12 cargo missions to the space station through 2016. The contract is worth $1.6 billion.
"Just over one year after the retirement of the space shuttle, we have returned space station cargo resupply missions to U.S. soil and are bringing the jobs associated with this work back to America," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
Dragon delivered 882 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, including 260 pounds of crew supplies, 390 pounds of scientific research, 225 pounds of hardware and several pounds of other supplies.
Dragon returned with a total of 1,673 pounds of supplies, including 163 pounds of crew supplies, 866 pounds of scientific research, 518 pounds of vehicle hardware and other hardware.
Dragon's capability to return cargo from the station is critical for supporting scientific research in the orbiting laboratory's unique microgravity environment, which enables important benefits for humanity and vastly increases understanding of how humans can safely work, live and thrive in space for long periods.
Countdown Top 10 Florida Stories of 2012: