SpaceXB次元官网网址檚 sleek, new crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, acing its second milestone in just over a day.

No one was aboard the Dragon capsule launched Saturday on its first test flight, only an instrumented dummy. But that quickly changed once the hatch swung open and the space station astronauts floated inside.

This beefed-up, redesigned Dragon is the first American-made, designed-for-crew spacecraft to pull up to the station in eight years. The next one coming up will have its own two-man crew.

B次元官网网址淎 new generation of space flight starts now with the arrival of @SpaceXB次元官网网址檚 Crew Dragon to the @Space_Station,B次元官网网址� NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted.

A new generation of space flight starts now with the arrival of B次元官网网址檚 Crew Dragon to the . Congratulations to all for this historic achievement getting us closer to flying American Astronauts on American rockets.

B次元官网网址� Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine)

The space stationB次元官网网址檚 three astronauts had front-row seats as the white 27-foot-long (8-meter-long) capsule neatly docked. Two hours later, the station crew entered to take air samples, wear oxygen masks and hoods until getting the all-clear.

If the six-day demo goes well, SpaceX could launch two astronauts this summer under NASAB次元官网网址檚 commercial crew program. Both astronauts B次元官网网址� Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken B次元官网网址� were at SpaceX Mission Control in Southern California, watching all the action. They rushed there from Florida after the Dragon rocketed into orbit early Saturday from NASAB次元官网网址檚 Kennedy Space Center.

B次元官网网址淛ust super excited to see it,B次元官网网址� Behnken said minutes after the link-up. B次元官网网址淛ust one more milestone that gets us ready for our flight coming up here.B次元官网网址�

Dragon will remain at the space station until Friday, when it undocks and aims for a splashdown in the Atlantic, a couple hundred miles off the Florida coast.

While the private SpaceX has sent plenty of its Dragon capsules filled with cargo to the space station for NASA, crew Dragon is a different beast. It docked on its own, instead of relying on the stationB次元官网网址檚 robot arm for berthing. The capsuleB次元官网网址檚 nose cap was wide open like a dragonB次元官网网址檚 mouth, to expose the docking mechanism.

Behnken said thatB次元官网网址檚 the way it should work when he and Hurley are on board; they may push a button or two and will have the ability to intervene, if necessary.

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As part of SundayB次元官网网址檚 shakedown, the station astronauts sent commands for the Dragon to retreat and then move forward again, before the capsule closed in for good.

SpaceX employees at company headquarters in Hawthorne, California, cheered and applauded as crew Dragon pulled up and docked at the orbiting lab, nearly 260 miles (400 kilometres) above the Pacific, north of New Zealand.

The capsuleB次元官网网址檚 lone passenger for launch B次元官网网址� a mannequin wearing a white SpaceX spacesuit B次元官网网址� remained strapped into its seat as the stationB次元官网网址檚 U.S., Canadian and Russian crew removed supplies and photographed the spotless white interior. The test dummy B次元官网网址� or Smarty as SpaceX likes to call it B次元官网网址� is named Ripley after the lead character in the science-fiction B次元官网网址淎lienB次元官网网址� films.

Like Ripley, the capsule is rigged with sensors to measure noise, vibration and stresses, and to monitor the life-support, propulsion and other critical systems throughout the flight. .

SpaceX aims to launch Behnken and Hurley as early as July.

Next up should be Boeing, NASAB次元官网网址檚 other commercial crew provider. Boeing is looking to launch its Starliner capsule without a crew as early as April and with a crew possibly in August.

NASA is paying the two private companies $8 billion to build and operate the capsules for ferrying astronauts to and from the space station. Astronauts have been stuck riding Russian rockets ever since NASAB次元官网网址檚 space shuttle program ended in 2011. Russian Soyuz seats go for up to $82 million apiece.

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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical InstituteB次元官网网址檚 Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

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