SpaceX says 'picture perfect' test paves way for human mission

Elon Musk's SpaceX simulated a successful emergency landing on Jan. 19 in a dramatic test of a crucial abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, a big step its mission to fly NASA astronauts for the first time as soon as this spring.   

A Crew Dragon astronaut capsule launched at 10:30 a.m. and softly splashed down about 19 miles (32 km) off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida about eight minutes later, after ejecting itself from a rocket that cut off its engines 12 miles (19 km) above the ocean to mimic a launch failure.   

Crew Dragon detached from the Falcon 9 rocket at "more than double the speed of sound," Musk told reporters, at 131,000 feet (40km) above the Atlantic Ocean -- roughly twice the altitude of a commercial jetliner.   

"It is a picture perfect mission. It went as well as one can possibly expect," Musk said at a press conference.   

National Aeronautics and Space Administration administrator Jim Bridenstine also described the test as a success.    

The first mission with humans aboard, which will be the final test mission before NASA's commercial crew program becomes operational, is scheduled for the second quarter of this year, after the spacecraft is completed no later than March, Musk said.     

In what was a key trial ahead of carrying humans, SpaceX also tested its rescue teams' response after splash down.

They scrambled toward Crew Dragon with the U.S. Air Force's Detachment 3 emergency rescue teams in tow - a vital part of the test to practice a rescue mission to retrieve astronauts from the capsule.    

Crew Dragon, an acorn-shaped pod that can seat seven astronauts, fired on-board thrusters to detach itself from the rocket less than two minutes after liftoff, simulating an...