Elon Musk unveils sleek spaceship to fly U.S. astronauts
Reuters
2014-05-30
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ROUGH CUT, NO REPORTER NARRATION
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, on Thursday (May 29) unveiled an upgraded passenger version of the Dragon cargo ship NASA buys for resupply runs to the International Space Station.
Rather than parachuting down into the ocean, the new capsule is outfitted with beefed up motors and landing legs to make precision touchdowns on land, said SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk, a billionaire technology entrepreneur who also runs the Tesla Motors Incelectric car company.
Lifting the vehicle's hatch, Musk settled into a reclined gold-and-black pilot's seat and pulled down a sleek, rounded glass control panel. The cabin, designed to fly a crew of seven, looked more like a Star Trek movie set than the flight deck of NASA's now-retired space shuttle.
Dragon, which launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is one of three privately owned space taxis vying for NASA development funds and launch contracts.
The U.S. space ag
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, on Thursday (May 29) unveiled an upgraded passenger version of the Dragon cargo ship NASA buys for resupply runs to the International Space Station.
Rather than parachuting down into the ocean, the new capsule is outfitted with beefed up motors and landing legs to make precision touchdowns on land, said SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk, a billionaire technology entrepreneur who also runs the Tesla Motors Incelectric car company.
Lifting the vehicle's hatch, Musk settled into a reclined gold-and-black pilot's seat and pulled down a sleek, rounded glass control panel. The cabin, designed to fly a crew of seven, looked more like a Star Trek movie set than the flight deck of NASA's now-retired space shuttle.
Dragon, which launches on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is one of three privately owned space taxis vying for NASA development funds and launch contracts.
The U.S. space ag
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