SpaceX released yesterday a video showing its successful test of its spacecraft Crew Dragon. The private space agency plans to use Crew Dragon for sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the year 2017.
Crew Dragon is one of two spacecrafts that will transport crews to and from the ISS starting in 2017. Each space capsule is capable of carrying seven people. SpaceX develops its crew capsules under NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts (CCtCap).
The test was completed back in November in McGregor, Texas. The private space agency analyzed the functioning of spacecraft's SuperDraco engines. On a NASA blog, we can find out that Crew Dragon is in the early stages of analysis and that SpaceX's crew capsule aims to accurately land humans on the ground.
NASA is using already the first version of SpaceX's Dragon for ISS cargo flights. SpaceX develops Crew Dragon, the second version, for a crewed mission. The recent hover test was just one among the many tests the company needs to conduct for receiving certification to fly humans into space.
In the first crewed flights, Crew Dragon won't be using its SuperDraco thrusters that are designed to land astronauts in a controlled descent. SpaceX will initially use parachutes to slow space capsule's descent and bring it on the ocean's surface.
On SpaceX's website, the company has explained that they are working toward propulsive landing for future's missions on planets without oceans, such as Mars.
Tech Crunch explains that starting in 2010, NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) was implemented to develop a replacement to the Space Shuttle. In the year 2014, NASA selected SpaceX and Boeing for its CCDev program.
According to NASA's website, the CST-100, Boeing's crewed capsule had also its own engine tests. Boeing's spacecraft is designed to touch down on land similar to SpaceX's Crew Dragon, but it uses parachutes and an cushioned airbag for landing instead of a propulsive landing.
