SpaceX Crew Dragon completes first unmanned flight test (Lead)

Washington, March 8 (IANS) The Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule completed its historic unmanned flight test on Friday with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean right on time at 8.45 a.m. EST.The uncrewed demonstration mission, called Demo-1, is the first flight test of a space system designed for humans and built and operated by a US commercial company through a public-private partnership."Today's successful splashdown of the @SpaceX Demo-1 #CrewDragon capsule after its mission to @Space_Station marked another milestone in a new era of human spaceflight," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a tweet.The capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday 2.32 a.m. ET. The unmanned Demo-1 flight test demonstrated SpaceX's ability to safely launch crew to the ISS and return home.NASA and SpaceX will use the Demo-1 data to further prepare for Demo-2, the manned flight mission that will carry NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS. It is currently targeted for July.
--IANS gb/bg