In an historical first, the re-usable, unmanned Dragon capsule, carried atop the towering Falcon 9 rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral on its way to supply the Space Station.

The launch occured at 3:44 am Eastern time and this time the launch went off without a hitch. The launch carries just over one thousand pounds of food, clothing, science equipment, and supplies destined for the station orbiting over 200 miles above the earth.

Space X Launch video-NASA

That is not all the Falcon 9 rocket is winging to space, secreted in the second stage of the rocket, are the ashes of the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, Scotty, of Star Trek fame. The engineer of the Enterprise had said that he always wanted to go into space. Today, he got his wish. James Doohan, known to the world as “Scotty,” passed away in 2005 at the age of 85.

Also, spirited aloft was Gordon Cooper, famed pilot of the last flight of Project Mercury, Faith Seven in 1963, and the commander of Gemini Five in 1965. The ashesof hundreds of others were secreted away in the rocket as well.

The Falcon 9’s first attempt to lift off was thwarted by a faulty shut-off valve on Saturday. That launch attempt was aborted one half second before it was to launch, sensors reported too much pressure in the combustion chamber.

All system worked to their expectations, and the Dragon capsule reached orbit and deployed its solar arrays amid cheers, hugs, and handshakes here on earth. It is reported that all sensors, exposed for the first time, were functioning well.

The spacecraft will continue in its present orbit throughout the day today conducting rendezvous/abort maneuvers, which include free drift, GPS, and lidar tests. Lidar is a laser system used to guage distance from the space station and will be crucial to the docking procedure that will take place later this week on Friday if all goes well.

Wednesday, the craft will adjust altitude and come within 1.5 miles of the station as pre-docking tests continue. This time the space station crew will take part in the tests as they test manual control boxes aboard the station and strobe the Dragon.

Tests will continue through the week and docking procedures will commence on Friday. If the 1,700 mile per hour docking is successful, the crew of the Space Station will open the hatch on Saturday.

The founder and CEO of Space X said at a news conference conducted at Space X headquarters in Hawthorne, California, “There’s so much hope riding on that rocket,” he said. “When it worked … and they saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should, there was tremendous elation. For us, it’s like winning the Super Bowl.”

“Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time,” said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator at a speech given at Cape Canaveral after the launch. “And while there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are certainly off to good start.”