Dragon captured!
 

NASA - SpaceX Launch

Kudos to SpaceX

This is a big deal. A very big deal.

Agreed. Elon Musk really seems to have his thinking straight. SpaceX has a series of boosters in the works that could seriously change how we access space.

Now someone needs to work on the problem of junk in orbit.

Iraq had a space gun in the works similar to the one developed by Germans in WW2.Project Babylon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Lead project engineer got mysteriously deaded, as usual).

Seems an easier launch method than rockets to put a payload into the upper orbits where a rocket/booster could take over.

It the payload is a solid lump of depleted uranium...

The issue is that all the energy needs to be imparted to the projectile while in the barrel. This means huge g forces that would destroy any payload like a satellite. Rockets still pull some good g forces but they are tolerable since they have more time to reach orbital velocity which means the impulse is the same but the peak force is less.

Multi-stage rockets are sort of like using a gun to give the payload a little help. Part of the propulsion module does not make it to orbit, just like how the gun stays on the ground.

From the Earth to the Moon used a gun built into the Florida ground to launch the astronauts but Verne describes how violent the launch was, even with the many levels of water and collapsable wood floors that were used to cushion the astronauts on launch.

Awesome. While I'm still somewhat saddened that the United States government has reduced our efforts in space, I'm glad to see the private efforts progressing as planned.

Agree. Letting private biz run the show (hopefully with some safety requirements) will likely prove to be a good idea. Not having it in place before retiring the Shuttle fleet - very bad planning.

More kudos to SpaceX

Successful docking and cargo transfer. Now Dragon is down - apparently successfully: SpaceX Dragon Capsule Splashes Down in Pacific, Ending Historic Test Flight | Space.com

History in the making!

Good stuff. Now let's see the SpaceX competitors' space vehicles get into the act.

Big Deal! Why is it such a big deal? This small capsule reminds me of the early Apollo capsules. I carries only a "payload of what, 500, 1000 pounds? Compare that to the space shuttle size and carrying capacity. Where is the progress? And the Russians have been doing it for decades already. Just because it is a "private" enterprise it deserves all the hype?

it's a big deal b/c space flight is going to be privatized, with all that brings

this will also free up NASA to focus on deep space