A newly-designed US astronaut capsule has successfully docked with the International Space Station as part of a major test flight.
The successful attachment of SpaceX's Crew Dragon comes over a day after it launched from Florida.
Crew Dragon made 18 orbits of Earth before arriving at the ISS.
The mission comes as part of efforts by NASA to resume manned flights from US soil.
However, the capsule is unmanned on this mission - instead containing only a life-size test dummy.
Shortly before 11am Irish time this morning, NASA confirmed the craft successfully attached to the ISS.
Capture confirmed! After making 18 orbits of Earth since its launch, @SpaceX’s #CrewDragon spacecraft successfully attached to the @Space_Station via “soft capture” at 5:51am ET while the station was traveling just north of New Zealand. Watch: https://t.co/oJKHgK8eV7 pic.twitter.com/xO1rU5cAMM
— NASA (@NASA) March 3, 2019
The station was travelling just north of New Zealand when the 'soft capture' happened.
NASA hailed it as a "first for a commercially built and operated spacecraft designed for crew".
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, meanwhile, tweeted an image of the craft docking with the space station.
SpaceX Crew Dragon has docked with International @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/CccsItLLvJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2019
Mr Musk hailed the "incredible amount of hard work and sacrifice from a lot of people that got us to this point".
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said: “I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation’s space history.
"This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
Demo-1
The ongoing 'Demo-1' is a major mission for both SpaceX and NASA.
They've teamed up as part of the US space agency's commercial crew programme.
If Demo-1 goes as expected, a follow-up Demo-2 mission will carry two NASA astronauts - Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley - to the ISS in July.
The Crew Dragon will remain docked with the ISS until next Friday.
It's then expected to return to Earth and 'splash down' in the Atlantic Ocean several hours later.
According to NASA, the current test is a "significant step toward returning to the nation the capability to launch astronauts on a US-built spacecraft from US soil".
Such flights haven't taken place since the retirement of the space shuttle programme in 2011.
