Photos: Falcon takes flight

A slide wire escape system has been undergoing tests at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in readiness for the first SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to carry astronauts to the International Space Station.

The astronaut “is in stable condition under observation as a precautionary measure,” NASA said in a statement 10 hours after the Crew Dragon’s landing. “To protect the crew member’s medical privacy, specific details on the individual’s condition or identity will not be shared.”

Two U.S.-German satellites launched more than 15 years ago to measure Earth’s changing gravity field will stop collecting data in November, a few months before a pair of replacement craft will launch to resume gravity measurements, NASA officials said.