Friday, December 4, 2009

SpaceX Conducts NASA Training

Hawthorne-based SpaceX, the commercial spacecraft startup started by Elon Musk, reported Thursday that it has hosted its first preliminary training for NASA astronauts, in preparation for the firm's first delivery of payload to the International Space Station. SpaceX said that it hosted a group of NASA astronauts and personnel at its headquarters in Hawthorne in October, covering interfacing the firm's Dragon spacecraft with the ISS. SpaceX has a contract to launch three missions of its spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of a bid by NASA to use commercial, off the shelf suppliers for resupplying the space station. The firm said the training sessions were a "key step" in its progress in the program.

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