SpaceX Tested Its Capsule That Will Send Humans To Space

While SpaceX showed its technology is ready, propulsive landing initially won’t be used for its missions.

Crew Dragon capsule or Dragon 2 capsule is hailed as the future of NASA coordinated commercial crew program.

Before the Crew Dragon capsule becomes the go-to means of transportation, it still stands the certification test. This is bound to happen rather soon, as crewed test flights are already planned for 2017.

The Crew Dragon test was conducted in November at the company’s facility in McGregor, Texas.

Instead the thrusters would kick in and land the spacecraft vertically using an autopilot similar to that found on Space X’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket. Eight of these thrusters will be installed on a Crew Dragon and then will fire off to slow the descent of the spacecraft as it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere.

“SpaceX has noted that they are working toward propulsive landing because it is a necessary capability if you ever want to land humans on a planet without oceans, like Mars for example”, said a scientist involved with the experiment since the start.

In 2014, NASA awarded multi-billion dollar deals to Boeing and SpaceX for development of spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to and from space.

Despite the flawless performance, the thrusters won’t be used the first few times humans ride in the Dragon. Once SpaceX works out the kinks, the company hopes to land the Dragon capsule with the accuracy of a helicopter.

The commercial spaceflight company’s latest test shows the capsule hovering as it might just before landing, using eight high-powered “SuperDraco” engines.

The Crew Dragon will splash down safely in the ocean under parachutes as its passengers return from the space station.