A Historical Moment For SpaceX Caught On Camera

Technology has come a long way since the U.S. launched its first astronaut on a suborbital flight in May of 1961.

On Sunday morning just 19 hours after the Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida two astronauts hitched their space capsule in the International Space Station. The mission went off without a hitch, like something you would see in a movie.

This is the first time in the U.S. history of space exploration that astronauts were launched into the abyss by a rocked manufactured by a private company, in this case, it was engineer, industrial designer, and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk’s own SpaceX.

A video feed from the Space Station captured the docking procedure. You can see the red, white, and green lights that signify the progress as the Dragon capsule attaches to its host.

The two astronauts on board, Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley took over the controls during part of the maneuver. The docking itself was completely computer-driven leaving no room for error.

The docking followed a flawless launch Saturday afternoon. The docking indicated that the first portion of the test flight with a crew on board was opportune.

Once the astronauts return safely to Earth, the trip will be considered a complete success. This will open the way for more space travel in the near future, and perhaps even space tourism in the years to come.

The Space Station is a mere 250 miles above the Earth and travels at the incomprehensible speed of 17,500 miles per hour. NASA which has partnered with SpaceX has not yet decided how long the astronauts will stay stationed up there, it could be anywhere from a month to three months.