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 …
