Cape Canaveral, Florida - SpaceX's new crew capsule has arrived at the International Space Station, acing its second milestone in just over a day.
No one was aboard the Dragon capsule launched Saturday on its first test flight, only an instrumented dummy. But the three station astronauts had front-row seats as the Dragon neatly docked Sunday morning and became the first American-made, designed-for-crew spacecraft to pull up in eight years.
If the six-day demo goes well, SpaceX could launch two astronauts this summer.
This photo provided by SpaceX shows a life-size test dummy along with a toy that is floating in the Dragon capsule as the capsule made orbit. This latest, flashiest Dragon reached the space station on Sunday morning, just 27 hours after liftoff. Picture: SpaceX via AP
SpaceX's new crew capsule approaches just before docking at the International Space Station. SpaceX's new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station, acing its second milestone in just over a day. No one was aboard the Dragon capsule launched Saturday on its first test flight, only an instrumented dummy. Picture: NASA TV via AP
While SpaceX has sent plenty of cargo Dragons to the space station, crew Dragon is a different beast. It docked autonomously, instead of relying on the station's robot arm for help.