The SpaceX Crew Dragon's Nash takes thumbs up for the March flight test

NASA and SpaceX met on Friday and examined the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission to see if they are really ready to launch the International Space Station in March. So far so good.

The result of the flight readiness surveys is that NASA confirms the start time at 11:48 pm. Pacific on Friday, March 1 (2:48 am Eastern on Saturday, March 2) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule will be driven to Falcon 9 rocket space.

The Dragon crew will have no man on board for this initial test flight but will ship supplies and equipment to the ISS. The mission was had previously been delayed several times.

The Dragon crew is part of it NASA's Naval Commercial Program, which includes SpaceX and Boeing deploying spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts from the US ground. NASA pays for ISS rides on the Russian space ship Soyuz since the 2011 space shuttle program was completed.

NASA reports that criticisms included discussions on the flight plan, procedures and layoffs incorporated into spacecraft systems.

"This is a big milestone for us today," said ISS Director Kirk Shireman. "We believe this vehicle is in perfect condition and we are ready to have it at the International Space Station."

The Dragon crew is scheduled to spend five days on the ISS and then return to Earth carrying survey samples. If everything works, it will land on the Atlantic Ocean to recover.

If the SpaceX crew's capsule passes all of its tests, it will be used to get the real astronauts into orbit just in mid-2019. This would mean the start of a new space flight time for the US.