AT 3:44am Florida time on May 22nd the Dragon spacecraft breathed fire at last, blasting off from Cape Canaveral atop a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX, its maker, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief, along with NASA, America's space agency, whose cargo the capsule is ferrying to astronauts on the International Space Station. The successful launch follows months of delays caused by technical glitches, including an attempt aborted with half a second to go on the countdown clock, after one of the Falcon's nine engines showed unexpectedly high pressure. If all goes to plan, on May 25th the Dragon, which settled in orbit 12 minutes after ignition, will become the first private craft to dock with the ISS, heralding a new era of space trucking.
And along with its cargo for the Space Station are the ashes of James Doohan - Scotty of Star Trek fame. He's not alone though as the ashes of about 300 others are there with him. Now the question is - when will they start releasing the toys?
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