Dragon pad abort launch
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 6 on a test of the spacecraft's abort system. Eight SuperDraco thrusters mounted on the Dragon propelled the vehicle on a brief test flight to demonstrate its ability to escape its launch vehicle in the event of an emergency.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft roared off its Florida launch pad May 6 in an abort system test the company deemed successful despite a minor problem with one of the spacecraft’s thrusters.

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Jeff Foust has more than a decade of experience writing about space policy, entrepreneurial ventures and regulatory affairs. In 2001, he established spacetoday.net to aggregate and summarize the day's space-related news stories. In 2003, he started The...