An encouraging article in Popular Mechanics by veteran astronaut Tom Jones, with some positive feedback for SpaceX and Dragon.
ISS astronauts were impressed with Dragon as a potential transport ship, finding its roomy interior clean and inviting. The mission’s success may build support in Congress for NASA’s dual approach to human spaceflight: fly cargo and crew to low Earth orbit on commercial rockets, built and operated privately, and with those savings focus on deep-space travel with the government’s Orion spacecraft, intended to reach the Moon, lunar orbit outposts, and nearby asteroids. Orion’s first unmanned test flight is planned for 2014.
