SpaceX capsule test flight a success

SpaceX successfully completed a two-minute test flight of the company’s Dragon passenger capsule Wednesday morning.

The practice run was a test of the craft’s emergency abort system, which can separate the capsule 100 meters from the rocket in 2 seconds. The separation can be performed at any time during the ship’s ascent through the atmosphere, unlike NASA abort systems, which can only be used within the first few minutes of launch.

The test is one of many SpaceX hopes to complete before carrying NASA astronauts by 2017. The company is also attempting to make a reusable version of its Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX, run by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, is already taking supplies to the International Space Station using Dragon and Falcon 9, but has not yet carried a human passenger into space.

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