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Shuttle successor succeeds

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad today.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad today.Robert Z. Pearlman / CollectSpace.com

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he felt as if he was playing Russian roulette with the first launch of his company's Falcon 9 rocket, which is being groomed as a successor to NASA's space shuttle fleet. Well, Musk and his team not only dodged a bullet ... they knocked this one out of the park, and into orbit. For the full story, check out my report in msnbc.com's Space section. I'll be updating that story as the day goes on.