Categories: Commercial SpaceDragonFalcon 9Space Exploration TechnologiesSpace StationSpaceX

Image Gallery: Astronauts Capture a Dragon

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is snared by the International Space Station's Canadarm 2. Credit: NASA

Sunday was a big day in space, and astronaut Chris Hadfield captured the excitement in photos, and shared them via Twitter. “What a day!” Hadfield tweeted. “Reached & grabbed a Dragon, berthed her to Station & opened the hatch to find fresh fruit, notes from friends, and peanut butter.”

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft overcame a problem with its thrusters after reaching orbit on Friday, and on Sunday Dragon successfully approached the Station, where it was captured by Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and crewmate Tom Marshburn using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Dragon was grappled at 5:31 a.m. EST, and was berthed to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module at approximately 8:56 a.m. EST on March 3.

See more photos below. The image captions are Hadfield’s Tweets.

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‘Dragon comes into view – first sight this morning, sneaking up on us from behind the Progress solar array,’ tweeted Chris Hadfied. Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

‘The Dragon spaceship high over Mount Etna – both spitting fire.’ Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

The Dragon approaches the ISS over sub-Saharan Africa. Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

Hadfield’s self-portrait in the Cupola with rising Dragon below, Africa behind. Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

‘Like a Praying Mantis, Canadarm2 poised to reach out and grab Dragon.’ Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

‘Success! Canadarm2 holds Dragon by the nose, to drag it up and hook it on to a Station hatch.’ Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

‘Happy crewmember – Dragon securely snared by Canadarm2, ready to be lifted around, hooked into place, and opened up.’ Credit: NASA/Chris Hadfield.

In this video, Hadfield provides a tour of the Robotic Workstation where the crew commanded Canadarm2 to capture and dock the Dragon:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/