Astronauts aboard the International Space Station plucked a commercial cargo ship from orbit on Wednesday, a key manoeuvre in the first US supply run to the orbital outpost since the retirement of the cargo-hauling space shuttles last year.
After a 2-1/2 day trip, Space Exploration Technologies’ Dragon cargo ship positioned itself 10 metres away from the US$100 billion research complex, a project of 15 countries, which has been dependent on Russian, European and Japanese freighters for supplies.
Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide then used the space station’s 17.7-metre long robotic arm to grab hold of a grapple fixture on the side of the capsule at 10.56 GMT as the spacecraft flew 402 kilometres above the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Baja California in northwest Mexico.
“Looks like we tamed the Dragon,” commander Sunita Williams radioed to Mission Control in Houston.
“We’re happy she’s on board with us. Thanks to everybody at SpaceX and Nasa for bringing her here to us. And the ice cream,” she said.
The Dragon’s cargo includes a freezer to ferry science samples back and forth between the station and earth. For the flight up, it was packed with chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, a rare treat for an orbiting crew.