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SpaceX Conducts Abort Test at Cape Canaveral

SpaceX conducted a Pad Abort Test on Crew Dragon, a vehicle designed to carry astronauts, on May 6, to collect as much data as possible in preparation for human missions planned for 2017. The trial was conducted to test Crew Dragon’s capability to evacuate the crew and spacecraft in the event of a failure upon launch.

SpaceX compared the system to a pilot’s ejector seat, however, the PAT “ejects” the entire spacecraft away from the launch pad rather than just the crew. Credit: YouTube/SpaceX