SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft For Humans Being Tested By NASA

NASA is currently testing SpaceX's Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will one day carry humans into space. The space agency is currently testing the capsule at its Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, evaluating it ahead of a planned unmanned mission later this summer. Included with the information is a large image showing the complete capsule.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule is being tested in NASA's In-Space Propulsion Facility, the only one in the world that can perform full-scale upper-stage launch vehicles and rocket engines testing using high-altitude simulations, the space agency says.

During this testing, the capsule is being placed in a chamber that will subject it to the vacuum of space, as well as extreme temperatures, to see how it handles the conditions. The space agency showed an image of the capsule in what appears to be a descent into the testing chamber. NASA doesn't have much to say about the test.

This evaluation is happening ahead of SpaceX's planned Demonstration Mission 1 flight test, which will happen under NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract. That test flight will not include crew, but the expectation is that the Crew Dragon capsule will one day carry humans into space.

After NASA wraps up its testing in Sandusky, the Crew Dragon will be transportation to Florida's Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the first flight. The spacecraft was previously tested at Kennedy Space Center where it was subjected to the agency's anechoic chamber.

SOURCE: NASA