SpaceX

It didn’t go into space, but SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule fired off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a 99-second test flight to demonstrate a crucial safety mechanism that would save astronauts from a catastrophic rocket failure. View photos of the human-rated spacecraft’s first flight.

SpaceX plans to launch an unmanned test model of the company’s Dragon crew capsule Wednesday on a whirlwind 107-second flight through the skies over Cape Canaveral.