Gadgetory

last night SpaceX founder and real-life Tony Stark Elon Musk unveiled the dragon v2 the company's first manned spacecraft the capsule can carry seven astronauts to the International Space Station before docking automatically with the ISS and as far as landing it the craft propulsion system allows it to land almost anywhere on earth with the accuracy of a helicopter right now a vessel leaving the ISS can't land very precisely and it can't be used again SpaceX's dragon v2 will have the freedom to land almost anywhere and be reused several times but how exactly did Ilan Musk's company get to this point rewind to may 22nd 2012 after several delays and false starts SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket takes off three days later its unmanned Dragon capsule successfully docks with the ISS marking a first for any privately-owned spacecraft later that year after receiving a 1.6 billion dollar contract from NASA SpaceX completes the first of 12 planned resupply missions to the ISS using its Dragon capsule this was also the first resupply mission ever by a private company but vessels like the dragon aren't the only parts musk wants to wash rinse and reuse again beginning in late 2012 the company began testing its next-generation reusable rocket called grasshopper the grasshopper rocket is designed to launch into space release its payload and land back on earth safely and ready for another mission this is a major step forward in rocket engineering right now such Rockets have mostly been throw away equipment after completing a launch not really that cost-effective anyway back to Elon Musk in December of last year musk company launched its first commercial satellite into orbit this milestone marked a potential game-changer for the commercial satellite industry SpaceX showed it could launch satellites on US soil for millions less than it typically cost competitors and that brings us back to today must says the dragon v2 will be able to transport crew to the ISS by 2016 and that's not even the end of it because musk has a greater vision human colonization of Mars that's right with the company's development of innovative reusable spacecrafts travel to and from space is about to become cheaper and easier than you've ever imagined