First commercial capsule takes off for space station

New York Times : Early this morning, SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon capsule launched successfully from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and headed for the International Space Station. Although the capsule had been scheduled to go up earlier this month , the launch was delayed several times. If Dragon succeeds in docking at the station, it will be the first commercial craft to do so. The mission is important because it could signal the start of a $1.6 billion contract for SpaceX to fly 12 cargo missions to the space station and, in the future, could lead to SpaceX’s transporting astronauts as well. If SpaceX does not complete all its goals on this flight, however, it may have to fly yet another demonstration flight before beginning the cargo contract, writes Kenneth Chang for the New York Times.