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This morning, the crew of the International Space Station opened the hatch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule and went inside. The Dragon docked with the ISS yesterday, becoming the first private spacecraft to rendezvous with the station. NASA astronaut Donald Pettit was the first aboard, remarking that it "smells like a brand new car." Pettit and the crew now have until Thursday to unload Dragon's cargo and refill it with equipment to return to Earth.

After a flawless launch on May 22, the SpaceX Dragon capsule has become the first commercial spacecraft to berth at the International Space Station. After a flyby last night, the capsule approached the station, and station flight engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers brought the vehicle to berth with the station's robotic arm. The capsule was bolted to the station's Harmony module at 12:02 p.m. Eastern Time.

Sometime over the next 12 hours, the SpaceX capsule Dragon will rendezvous with the International Space Station for the first time. It's streaming live on UStream and you can watch it here. To prepare you for this historic event, we've profiled the stellar career so far of SpaceX founder Elon Mask.

Last night, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's carrying a reusable spacecraft called Dragon, which can dock with the International Space Station. It's unmanned this time, but it's capable of carrying cargo or crew. This will be the first time a spacecraft built and launched by a private company docks with the station. It's a new era.

Today's theme is the funny-looking future. Humans have been dreaming of the era of air and space flight for a long time. But now that we're here, it turns out the future isn't always as romantic as we expected it to be.

Look at how ugly some of our best inventions are.

Today's theme is star power. We Earthlings think we're pretty powerful. Sometimes it's healthy to look around the galaxy (or at other nearby galaxies) and remember that we're just riding the waves of vastly more powerful forces.

Let's hope our own star stays calm for the time being.

Today's theme is the new mission. We're exploring space today for very different reasons than we were 50 years ago. We need whole new institutions - not just new technologies - to do it.

 What has changed, and what has stayed the same?

Today's theme is stellar bodies. Human spaceflight might be in a state of limbo lately, but we're still getting some breathtaking images from our automated explorers.

Whether far away or close to home, it sure is beautiful out there.

Today's theme is reaching orbit. Most human beings have gotten used to the idea of flying through the air by now. Some aspects of human flight feel downright old and outdated. But the cutting edge of flight still demonstrates the highest heights of human technology.

For most people, flying is still a dreadful slog. Here's a great breakdown of everything wrong with airport security and how to fix it.

But even for hobbyists, flight still fires the imagination. Check out this footage from a remote-controlled plane.

The craziest-looking aircraft you've ever seen, a 16-rotor vertical take-off and landing contraption called the VC1, has taken the Lindbergh Prize for Innovation at an airshow in Germany.

Meanwhile, in the military, behold the lamest fighter jet propaganda video ever.

The Pentagon has released a detailed report on the March 20 in-flight failure of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.

While the U.S. space program is in flux, other players are stepping up. Private space company SpaceX is getting close to launching a rocket that can deliver astronauts to orbit.

The European Space Agency has shared some spellbinding photos from the International Space Station.

Lead image via DARPA

Today's theme is the interplanetary Web. We've reached the point where saying "the Worldwide Web" sounds goofy, and www. in a URL looks outdated. It's still accurate, though. The Internet feels infinite, but it's still limited to our one planet.

Not for long, though. There's a conference this week bringing 20 spacefaring nations together to discuss technical standards and engineering challenges for designing the interplanetary Web.