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Members of Congress marked the historic dock of the privately owned SpaceX Dragon with the International Space Station on Friday. Lawmakers, like any one else interested in following the first step into the commercial era of space travel, followed along with Twitter updates from NASA and SpaceX since the successful rocket launch Tuesday. 

Some members of Congress have been hesitant to embrace the privatization of the space transport business, but the successful first-ever docking of a private spacecraft with the International Space Station on Friday sent many to Twitter to celebrate.

President Obama personally took questions during an impromptu Twitter chat on Thursday night.

this is barack - let's get this started! -bo

— The White House (@whitehouse) May 24, 2012

Obama mostly tweeted with minimal capitalization during the Q&A, and demonstrated effective use of hashtags and abbreviations to condense policy points down to 140 characters. He stayed on message, spreading the word about the five-point "to do" list he gave Congress earlier this month when he tweeted: "Its on #CongressToDoList. Get it done"

The SpaceX Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station on Friday morning, the first commercial spacecraft to ever do so.

"Looks like we caught a Dragon by the tail." - Astronaut Don Pettit after capturing @SpaceX Dragon capsule with ISS robotic arm.

— NASA Kennedy / KSC (@NASAKennedy) May 25, 2012

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) got a flat tire on Thursday while headed to mobile office hours in his district.

But for Duffy, who has become prolific with videos on his YouTube page as he competes in the ongoing House Republican new media challenge, it was just another chance to pull out his tools — the last time, it was his axe — and get to work. 

While it’s true that the House Financial Services Committee tweets a lot about banks and bailouts, it’s also the case that this committee is at the forefront of a lot of the issues of the day. Following the committee on Twitter means getting an inside view of the Republican committee members’ view on monetary policy, “too big to fail” and the Federal Reserve.

And yes, according to the people behind the tweets for the committee, sometimes those topics are hard to condense into 140 characters. Hear about it in this week's Follow Friday Q&A:

President Obama will field questions about clean energy jobs over Twitter following a speech promoting wind power at a campaign stop in Iowa on Thursday.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tweeted out updates Thursday on the first-ever attempt by a private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. On Thursday, as the unmanned SpaceX Dragon became visible from the space station for the first time, NASA and SpaceX shared video and photos of the historic event.

The @SpaceX #Dragon capsule passed directly below the #ISS at a distance of 2.5km, fulfilling all demonstration objectives for the day.

— NASA (@NASA) May 24, 2012

Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.) tweeted Thursday that he is “so proud” Phillip Phillips, who hails from Georgia, won the reality singing competition “American Idol” this season.

Congratulations to Phillip Phillips on winning American Idol! We are so proud of you @PPhillipsAI11 1.usa.gov/JZz7p2

— Sanford Bishop, Jr. ( @SanfordBishop ) May 24, 2012

President Obama called Elon Musk, the founder of the pioneering private space transport company SpaceX, on Wednesday night to congratulate him on a successful first-ever commercial rocket launch.

Musk almost did not take the president's call. He tweeted that he thought the blocked number was a telemarketer.

The President just called to say congrats. Caller ID was blocked, so at first I thought it was a telemarketer :)

— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk ) May 23, 2012

Donald Trump is angling for a significant role at the Republican National Convention this summer in Tampa, Fla.

The reality television host and Mitt Romney surrogate took to Twitter on Tuesday to ask for a prime speaking slot.

Hmmm...can you imagine me speaking at the RNC Convention in Tampa?thedc.com/MhqIMFThat's a speech everyone would watch.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 22, 2012