A SpaceX rocket with a newly designed unmanned crew capsule blasted off on Saturday for the International Space Station, in a key milestone for Elon Musk’s space company and NASA’s long-delayed goal to resume human spaceflight from US soil later this year.
SpaceX’s 16-foot-tall Crew Dragon capsule, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at TK 2:49 a.m., carrying a test dummy nicknamed Ripley.
Crew Dragon will deliver about 400 pounds of supplies and equipment to the @Space_Station. Also on board is an anthropomorphic test device, which we call Ripley. pic.twitter.com/FuHewNb4UM
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 2, 2019
The space station’s three-member crew was expected to greet the capsule, carrying 400 pounds of supplies and test equipment, early Sunday morning, NASA said.
During its five-day stay, US astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will run tests and inspect Crew Dragon’s cabin.
