NASA: SpaceX's Dragon pad abort test a success

SpaceX's test last month of a key astronaut safety system was a success, NASA confirmed today.

During the so-called pad abort test on May 6, a prototype Dragon capsule fired eight engines to launch from a stand at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, attempting to show how it would quickly move a crew away from a launch pad emergency.

Holding only a crash test dummy, the capsule shot up more than 3,500 feet — reaching 100 mph in just over a second — and splashed down under parachutes 3,600 feet from the pad, all in less than two minutes.

After SpaceX provided "reams" of test data to NASA, the space agency awarded the company a $30 million payment under a program helping companies develop spacecraft to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, possibly by 2017.

"This test was highly visible and provided volumes of important information, which serves as tangible proof that our team is making significant progress toward launching crews on American rockets from America soon," said Jon Cowart, partner manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, in a press release.

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"The successful test validated key predictions as it relates to the transport of astronauts to the space station," added SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

NASA last fall awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing, worth up to $2.6 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively, to fly crews to the space station. Each company is guaranteed at least two missions after NASA certifies the vehicles' safety.

SpaceX performed the pad abort test under an earlier agreement. The company plans a second abort test from California to simulate the capsule's ability to escape from a Falcon 9 rocket after launch.