SpaceX launches first Crew Dragon capsule mission in preparation for astronaut flights

SpaceX caught itself a “W” early this morning with a successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule. Crew Dragon represents SpaceX’s first spacecraft meant to transfer humans to and from the International Space Station. This flight is the final test check for the spacecraft, and will include launch, docking with the ISS, and reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere for recovery.

Thus far, SpaceX has completed a successful launch of the Crew Dragon, complete with a test dummy and a very high-tech zero-g indicator.

Earth floats gently in zero gravity pic.twitter.com/XUH3KeDPVe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2019

Tomorrow morning, the craft will attempt to dock with the International Space Station, and after that, it will attempt re-entry.

NASA gave SpaceX approval for the launch earlier this week.

In case you missed the live stream last night, you can watch the full stream below:

SpaceX Crew Dragon recap https://t.co/MmQmctxRSo

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2019

LIFTOFF! The next big leap in a new chapter of U.S. human spaceflight systems has left the pad. @SpaceX’s #CrewDragon demo flight will be the 1st commercially-built & operated American spacecraft designed for humans to dock at the @Space_Station. Watch: https://t.co/Fm5NQSfAXJ pic.twitter.com/YoiOf67kQL

— NASA (@NASA) March 2, 2019

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