First Private Rocket Returns From Orbit

You can’t take a private spaceship around the world yet, but scientists got one step closer to making consumer space travel a reality Wednesday, when the first private spacecraft returned safely from orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket built by the company SpaceX launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday morning, and after circling the Earth twice, floated gently into the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off the coast of Mexico. The 3.5-hour flight was a demonstration in a NASA program to use private spacecraft to ferry supplies to the International Space Station. A second test flight is planned for the spring, and a later, third demonstration will be the first to actually dock at the space station.