ISS Crew Meets The Dragon: VIDEO

A moment of minor historic import passed with little fanfare yesterday, when for the first time in the history of our species human beings exited a government space vehicle and entered a private one. This was the crew of the International Space Station entereing the Dragon resupply, designed, built, and launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX. 

Watching the video below, I was struck by the technical mastery required merely to get the capsule to adhere, sealed, to the side of the space station. How would one go about that? And watching astronauts open it, I wondered: What did it feel like? Was it cold from having been rushing so recently through the near-void? Was it hot? Was it vibrating? Were the astronauts nervous, leaving the comfort of their government-built capsule and floating into this thing designed by a crazy South African in Cali?

Wild stuff. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

SpaceX Rocket Launches, Will Be World's First Private Craft to Dock at ISS: VIDEO

SpaceX Dragon 9, the brainchild of PayPal founder Elon Musk, blasted off last night en route to be the first private commercial craft to dock at the International Space Station, carry 1200 pounds of food and supplies.

The craft also carries the ashes of 300 people including the ashes of James Doohan, 'Scotty' from Star Trek, which will be jettisoned into space.

The AP reports:

"Falcon flew perfectly!!" SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said via Twitter. "Dragon in orbit ... Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."

The White House quickly offered congratulations.

"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting," said John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser. "This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of NASA's resources to do what NASA does best -- tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit."

Launch controllers applauded when the Dragon reached orbit nine minutes into the flight, then embraced one another once the solar panels on the spacecraft popped open. Many of the SpaceX controllers wore untucked T-shirts and jeans or even shorts, a stark contrast to NASA's old suit-and-tie shuttle team.

Watchan ABC News report and raw video of the launch, AFTER THE JUMP...