Footage has been released of tests that SpaceX is performing, involving the use of parachutes to bring astronauts back down to Earth.
The process involves using four large parachutes that will be used to lower the Dragon spacecraft as it drifts back toward Earth after a mission.
SpaceX has been making cargo runs to the International Space Station for NASA since 2012, and while there have been some bumps along the way, the partnership has been going well enough for NASA to have renewed the contract a few years ahead. NASA has even contracted SpaceX to bring astronauts to the ISS, and SpaceX has built a crew-rated version of the Dragon spacecraft specifically for this purpose.
Of course, before SpaceX can bring astronauts to and from the ISS, a number of tests have to be completed, those on the parachutes being the most recent. The company used a giant weight in place of the actual spacecraft and dropped the test rig using a C-130 aircraft over Coolidge, Ariz. All four of the parachutes deployed as they were supposed to.
While the test rig touched down in the desert, the plan is for the spacecraft to land in the ocean, and will mark the first time that astronauts have landed in water since the late 1970s. The SpaceX missions are set to take place sometime in late 2017 or early 2018.
Of course, while SpaceX is testing water-landings, it is also testing using jet propulsion as a way to land on solid ground or on drone ships at sea. Only last week, the company published a video of the Dragon spacecraft hovering in place using eight rocket engines. Eventually, SpaceX wants to use this technology to safely lower astronauts back to Earth.
You can check out a video of the landing below.
