Topic: Here be Dragons (Capsules that is)

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

Six weeks after the first Falcon 9 rocketed into orbit, pieces of the second launcher have begun arriving at Cape Canaveral for a shakedown flight of SpaceX's Dragon capsule in September, according to the company's top executive.

The Dragon should be shipped to Cape Canaveral sometime in August, but Musk cautioned it is difficult to predict exactly when it will be ready.

"Then there's about a month of preparation, and we'll try to launch in September, I think," Musk said. "It's impossible to predict the exact end of the development schedule."

"It's actually the most powerful stuff known to man. Dragon is capable of re-entering from a lunar velocity, or even a Mars velocity with the heat shield that it has," Musk said.

Presumably if it did go to Mars it would be as a robotic probe carrier. Possibly a sample return vehicle.

[Nemesis]

10 years on the Dragon Capsule has just done a successful abort test and is getting really close to being man rated.