SpaceX releases first interior photos of its astronaut-carrying spacecraft

www.theverge.com ^ | September 10, 2015 06:04 pm | By Loren Grush

[Red Badger]

SpaceX's new Crew Dragon capsule may be reserved for astronauts traveling to and from the International Space Station — but now you can take a virtual tour of the vehicle's insides. The company just released interior photos of the spacecraft, as well as a video showing closeups of its control panels and crew seats. The images offer our first glimpse at what the finished Crew Dragon will look like.

The photos show an interior that is sleek and smooth, with mostly black and white hardware. It gives off the vibe of a luxury sports car (which makes sense, given CEO Elon Musk also runs a high-end car business). The capsule has seven seats for crew, made of carbon fiber and Alcantara cloth. Video displays in front of the seats will provide information to the astronauts about the vehicle's position in space and the environment on board. There's even an environmental control system that astronauts can adjust in case the Crew Dragon's temperature is too hot or too cold.

Of course, any good ride needs a view of what's going on outside. Four windows embedded in the spacecraft's walls will allow astronauts to soak in the amazing view during their trip into space.

SpaceX is developing the Crew Dragon for NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Program. The space agency awarded both SpaceX and Boeing contracts to manufacture and operate crew vehicles to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from the ISS. The initiative is meant to stimulate the private sector, as well as decrease America's reliance on Russian rockets for getting into space.

Check out more images of the Crew Dragon below.

VIDEO AT LINK............................

[Red Badger]

OPEN THE POD BAY DOORS, HAL.......................................................

[Lx]

Awesome, no individual switches unlike in Apollo.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Cool. Will they be giving free rides at the county fair? Trump did.

[Red Badger]

Hopefully they’ll use Linux for their OS..............................

[Red Badger]

The capsule has seven seats for crew, made of carbon fiber and Alcantara cloth.

What? No 'Fine Corinthian Leather'?.........................

[JackOfVA]

I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.

[taxcontrol]

Minux 3 would be a better choice. It can self recover even if a driver goes haywire.

[Lx]

[Steely Tom]

What happens if you butt-dial “DEORBIT NOW” after docking with the ISS?

[Gaffer]

Ha....that seat support system looks like what someone would design as a school project to keep an egg from breaking when you dropped it from a second story building.

I guess the mech analysis works out. The occupants had damned well better be strapped in on reentry or liftoff, though....

[Elderberry]

How close are they to getting manned flight certification?

[rktman]

I was kinda thinkin’ Alpaca covered seats at least. Any of them have those shiatsu back massagers in them? I mean really. Did you ever look at the “seats” in the shuttle? Brutal.

[Red Badger]

[rktman]

LOLOLOLOLOL!

[Red Badger]

Your ‘number’ is disconnected....................

[dfwgator]

Simon: My God! The sun.
Elaine Dickinson: What is it, Simon?
Simon: A large, fiery ball at the center of our solar system, but that’s not important now. We’re heading right for it.

[Red Badger]

Don’t know.........................

[Lx]

If the seats fail there is backup, both struts under the seat will impale their back to support them.

[GraceG]

People laugh at how old the old star trek looks, but by golly when you pressed a button you KNOW you pressed a button.

[Gaffer]

I really don’t know....it just looks like they have designed it to have minimum outer hull strength, etc. and opted for targeted point strength.....to me it just seems to be a ride meant to be experienced only in your seat and not floating around.