Photos: SpaceX Dragon Launches on Third Flight to Space Station

SpaceX Mission Control Prior to Falcon 9 Launch

SpaceX

SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted this photo of mission control prior to the Falcon 9 rocket launch on March 1, 2013.

SpaceX Employees Gather to Watch Falcon 9 Launch

SpaceX

SpaceX employees gather in their Hawthorne, CA, facility to watch their Falcon 9 spacecraft launch to the ISS on March 1, 2013.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 on Launch Pad

SpaceX

SpaceX's private rocket, Falcon 9, stands on the pad at Cape Canaveral, FL, prior to launching the Dragon cargo capsule on March 1, 2013.

SpaceX Webcast Hosts

SpaceX

SpaceX's launch webcast hosts introduce the Falcon 9 launch on March 1, 2013, from their Hawthorne, CA, facilities.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Static Fire Test

SpaceX

On Feb. 25, Falcon 9 and Dragon underwent a successful static fire in preparation for launch to the International Space Station. Engineers ran through all countdown processes as if it were launch day, ending with all nine engines on the rocket firing for nearly two seconds.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Standing on Launch Complex 40

NASA/Jim Grossmann

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket remains standing on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida following a test firing of the vehicle's nine Merlin first-stage engines. Image released Feb. 25, 2013.

SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft With Solar Array Fairings in Hangar

NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Dragon spacecraft with solar array fairings attached, stands inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft will launch on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-2 mission. Image released Jan. 15, 2013.

SpaceX Falcon 9 First Stage Arrives at Cape Canaveral

NASA/Jim Grossmann

A truck carrying the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Nov. 11, 2012.

SpaceX and NASA Mission Patches

NASA/SpaceX

Both SpaceX (left) and NASA have designed mission patches for the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) flight to the International Space Station.

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Tom Chao
Tom Chao has contributed to SPACE.com as a producer and writer since 2000. As a writer and editor, he has worked for the Voyager Company, Time Inc. New Media, HarperCollins and Worth Publishers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Cinema Production from the University of Southern California, and a master’s degree from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Tom on Google+.