See the Earth and the universe from SpaceX’s new Dragon Cupola spacecraft concept

Tram Ho

Billed as the first civilian mission to orbit, SpaceX’s Inspiration4 will deliver breakthroughs in many ways, such as a transparent spherical glass block for astronauts to observe beyond space and Earth. easier.

Ngắm nhìn Trái Đất và vũ trụ từ ý tưởng tàu vũ trụ Dragon Cupola mới của SpaceX - Ảnh 1.

The Dragon spacecraft that SpaceX uses for resupply missions on the International Space Station has been equipped with a docking system at the bow. It connects to the orbital research platform and allows cargo to be easily loaded and unloaded.

However, the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft that the Inspiration4 astronauts used to fly to the space station did not have a docking mission, and so SpaceX has prepared another extremely unique idea. Dragon Cupola is a sturdy transparent hemisphere, allowing astronauts to see out into space easily. It will be protected during launch and will be covered up after re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceX showed off renderings of the design in March. CEO Elon Musk describes you can see almost anything in space through just a glass dome.

Ngắm nhìn Trái Đất và vũ trụ từ ý tưởng tàu vũ trụ Dragon Cupola mới của SpaceX - Ảnh 2.
Ngắm nhìn Trái Đất và vũ trụ từ ý tưởng tàu vũ trụ Dragon Cupola mới của SpaceX - Ảnh 3.

The four-man crew of commanders Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Dr. Sian Proctor had the opportunity to view Cupola’s prototype in California. Although the current images are not realistic, the future of such a ship that can help astronauts observe space will certainly soon become a reality.

Ngắm nhìn Trái Đất và vũ trụ từ ý tưởng tàu vũ trụ Dragon Cupola mới của SpaceX - Ảnh 4.

Crew Dragon Resilience was used for NASA’s NASA Crew-1 mission in November 2020 and docked to the ISS automatically. It was part of SpaceX’s first crewed flight demonstration. After safely returning to Earth, SpaceX refurbished the ship in preparation for the next Inspiration4 mission.

Currently, SpaceX is planning to launch on September 15, 2021. Crew Dragon Resilience will be mounted atop a Falcon 9 rocket and launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Although the final destination is not the ISS, this unique spacecraft is expected to spend several days in orbit before returning to Earth.

Refer to Slashgear

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Source : Genk