Visualized: SpaceX's Dragon is a desolate vision in beige and white

Even if you squint real hard, you won't find Andie, Max or that rogue robot Jinx stowed away in that inner sanctum above. In fact, there are no humans on board Dragon whatsoever, given that this mission -- the first successful private / federal partnership with NASA -- is strictly cargo-only and a test flight to boot. After suffering several launch delays, Elon Musk's pet project finally achieved lift off this past Tuesday, giving space heads reason to exhale, all the while proving to the world that a new era in intergalactic exploration has just begun. En route now to dock with the ISS and deliver its payload, SpaceX's capsule, the interior of which measures 14.4ft (4.4m) by 12ft (3.7m) and is filled with dehydrated astronaut food, clothes, supplies and student science experiments, will spend about one week tethered to that international outpost before crashing into the Pacific on its return trip home. Hit up the source below to gawk at additional shots of this spacecraft's maiden voyage.

Visualized: SpaceX's Dragon is a desolate vision in beige and white originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.