Washington D.C. – Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX) released the following statement, after the SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean this morning.
I would like to again congratulate SpaceX on the completion of its first test mission to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The NASA and SpaceX teams successfully accomplished a series of difficult maneuvers and docked with the ISS over Memorial Day weekend to deliver over one thousand pounds of non-critical cargo.
This historic test mission is the first time a commercial company has attempted to deliver supplies to ISS, and the space community should be very pleased with the results. This was a complex mission and represents an important milestone for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program that will hopefully result in a reliable capability to deliver supplies to our space station.”