SpaceX Dragon Makes History, Docks With the ISS [PICS]

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SpaceX's Dragon capsule has successfully docked with the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first privately owned company in history to achieve such a feat.

This success came after a long period of planning and several launch delays. While there's still work to be done (the Dragon must successfully return to Earth), it's a historic event, hopefully marking the beginning of a new era of privately funded space exploration.

Now that the docking process is complete, the astronauts aboard the ISS will open the Dragon’s hatch and unload the supplies the spacecraft is carrying.

After that, they'll load used equipment into the Dragon, which will return back to Earth approximately two weeks later. The Dragon is scheduled to land in the Pacific, hundreds of miles west of Southern California.

Check out a gallery of photos from the mission tweeted by SpaceX below and our interview with SpaceX's founder and chief designer Elon Musk here.