If successful, the flight will be a major milestone for the burgeoning commercial spaceflight industry. - NBCNewsMACH
The Crew Dragon spacecraft is based on the design of, which has been ferrying cargo to the space station since 2012. But, the crewed version was overhauled to seat seven passengers and includes an escape mechanism to get the crew out of harm’s way if an emergency occurs during launch.
For the test flight, the capsule will be carrying some cargo and a “dummy” clad in one of SpaceX’s flight suits to mimic a human passenger. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is one of two space capsules that have been developed to help NASA end its reliance on Russia’s Soyuz rockets and capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. NASA’s other commercial partner, Boeing, is building its own spacecraft called the CST-100 Starliner that could undergo its own uncrewed test in April.