SpaceX new Crew capsule docks at International Space Station

SpaceX's new Crew Dragon capsule has arrived at the International Space Station, completing its second milestone in just over a day. No one was onboard the Dragon capsule that was launched on Saturday, on its first test flight, only a dummy. 

SpaceX Crew Dragon launch 

Credit: NASA 

The three astronauts Station had the front row seats as the vessel docked and became the first US-made 'designed-for-crew' Spacecraft to arrive at the ISS in eight years.

TV cameras at the ISS and the Crew Dragon provided stunning views of one another through the rendezvous. If the six-day demonstration goes well, SpaceX could launch two astronauts this summer under NASA's commercial crew program. 

Both astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were at SpaceX Mission Control Center in Southern California to observe the docking. They rushed there from Florida after watching the Dragon rocket go into orbit early on Saturday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. 

SpaceX has sent plenty of cargo dragons to the Space Station but the Crew Dragon is different. It docked autonomously instead of relying on Station's robot arms for berthing, which is how Behnken described it should work when he and Hurley are onboard. They may push a few buttons and will have the ability to intervene if necessary, he said. 

As part of Sunday's operation, the ISS astronauts sent commands to Dragon to retreat and move forward again before the capsule made its final approach. 

Inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft Credit: NASA

SpaceX employees at company's headquarters in Hawthorn, California cheered as Crew Dragon docked nearly 260 miles above the Pacific, North of New Zealand. They burst into applause again after a few minutes, when the Capsule's latches were tightly secured. The ISS astronauts offered congratulations to the SpaceX as they got ready to open the hatches and collect the supplies onboard Dragon.

The Capsule's lone passenger, a manequinn wearing a white SpaceX spacesuit was also welcomed onboard. The dummy or the smarty (as the SpaceX likes to call it), given all the instrumentation - has been named Ripley after the lead character in Alien films. Dragon will remain at the Space Station until Friday when it undocks and aims for a splashdown into the Atlantic, a few miles off the coast of Florida.

Just like Ripley, the capsule is also rigged with sensors to measure noise, vibrations and stresses and to monitor the life-support, propulsions and other critical systems throughout the flight.