Boeing recently demonstrated that astronauts in its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 capsule will be able to safely exit the spacecraft during an emergency water landing.

Although the CST-100 is designed to land on the ground, Boeing engineers worked with NASA and Department of Defense search-and-recovery personnel to test several emergency water-extraction scenarios.

"Crew safety is our top priority," said Alex Diaz, Boeing director for the testing.

"A water landing is unlikely, but it's important that we test the spacecraft in all potential scenarios."

The testing was done July 8 at Bigelow Aerospace in North Las Vegas, Nev., as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.

The CST-100 will transport crew members and cargo to low Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station and Bigelow's planned station.

The first piloted orbital flight of the CST-100 capsule is scheduled for 2016.