SpaceX and NASA moved closer to restoring the agency’s ability to deliver crew to the International Space Station (ISS) with the successful unmanned test on January 19 of an emergency abort system for the Crew Dragon capsule. At 90 seconds into the in-flight abort test launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, the capsule separated as the Falcon 9 rocket engines ignited, safely splashing into the Atlantic Ocean about 20 miles off the coast.

The short-lived mission was planned to initiate a launch emergency and demonstrate the ability of the Crew Dragon's onboard systems to automatically respond and return astronauts safely to Earth. Eight abort engines quickly pushed the spacecraft away with a burst of acceleration that carried it to an altitude of about 25 miles, after which the capsule descended to a relatively gentle splashdown assisted by four parachutes.

Researchers will now study the flight telemetry and instrument data in preparation for the Demo-2 mission, which will carry NASA astronauts to the ISS.

The Falcon 9 that launched a Crew Dragon spacecraft explodes shortly after the spacecraft fired its thrusters to escape the rocket. Source: NASA