Peering out an open hatch

SpaceX's flight capsule, Dragon, is already contracted to fly 12 cargo-only missions to the space station, and just last year the spacecraft became the first commercially developed spacecraft to return from Earth orbit.

Last week, NASA astronauts began getting up close with the spacecraft they may fly aboard in the future. Work is now under way to send humans into space aboard the Dragon to the ISS and possibly further. In 2011, NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) signed a Space Act Agreement with SpaceX to enhance Dragon's capabilities to include the transportation of humans to the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit destinations and potentially your next vacation.

Recently SpaceX invited NASA into its factory in Hawthorne, Calif., to check out a prototype of the Dragon crew capsule, modified for humans with with seats, lighting, environmental controls, life support systems, displays, cargo racks, and mock control panels.

Here, NASA astronaut Rex Walheim peers out an open hatch in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.