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SpaceX's Crew Dragon Capsule Returns To Earth After Historic Test Flight (nbcnews.com)
SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule returned safely to Earth early Friday, wrapping up its inaugural mission to the International Space Station and signaling that the U.S. may soon be able to ferry astronauts to and from space without relying on Russian spacecraft. From a report: The uncrewed capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of Florida, at 8:45 a.m. ET after spending almost a week at the space station. The spacecraft undocked from the orbiting outpost Friday at 2:32 a.m. ET to begin its descent. "This is an amazing achievement in American history," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said from the space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "These are all capabilities that are leading to a day where we are launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil." The Crew Dragon capsule was lofted into orbit March 2 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight was a crucial test of the new spacecraft, a seven-passenger vehicle that SpaceX has been developing for the past five years.
What private company has done this before?
This is a first.
Cargo Dragon berths, which means the Canadarm catches it and it is bolted to a berthing port. Berthing ports have a larger opening than the International Docking Adapter, and you can get larger diameter cargo through the door. Crew vehicles dock so that a crew can abandon the ISS or board the uninhabited ISS - nobody would be on board to operate the arm and bolt the vehicle to the berthing port.
A berthing port can have an IDA attached to it, and then becomes a docking port.
Crew Dragon docks autonomously without needing assistance from the ISS or the crew on board the Dragon.
Bruce Perens.
Not to mention Dragon2 is reusable
Not for crewed flights it isn't. Boeing's Starliner will be re-used for crewed flights, but Dragon2 will not. Used capsules will be repurposed for unmanned cargo flights only.
This is because dry landings are a requirement for re-use, and SpaceX decided to discontinue propulsive landing development in favour of parachutes and water landings. They did this because they wanted to spend the resources on Starship instead.