The American commercial space launch company, SpaceX, has test flown its Crew Dragon capsule in a bid to show NASA it can safely launch astronauts into space. The flight was called Demo-1 and is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on March 3rd.
While there were no humans on board, there was a dummy named Ripley that flew on the mission. Ripley, named after the main character in the 1979 movie "Alien," is equipped with sensors that give SpaceX engineers an idea of what the journey to and from the International Space Station (ISS) is like, reported CNBC.
"Today's successful launch marks a new chapter in American excellence, getting us closer to once again flying American Astronauts on American rockets from American soil," wrote NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a statement.
"This first launch of a space system designed for humans built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond."
“I'm a little emotionally exhausted,” Musk said afterwards. “It was super stressful. But it worked, so far."
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[…] CD Media has previously covered the American commercial space launch company which recently has test flown its Crew Dragon capsule in a bid to show NASA it can safely launch astronauts into space. The flight was called Demo-1 and docked with the ISS on March 3rd. […]