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SpaceX Inspiration4 astronaut Sian Proctor shared the first behind-the-scenes look at what it was like for the world’s first fully private astronaut crew to witness the biggest window ever flown into space for the first time.
In front of the camera: Hayley Arceneaux, now the youngest American astronaut in history and the first person to fly in space (or orbit) with an internal prosthesis. The Mission: Inspiration4, a philanthropic creation by billionaire and CEO Jared Isaacman with a strong focus on fundraising (and awareness) for St. Jude Children’s Hospital and the fight against childhood cancer. While, as many internet users will be more than anxious to point out, Isaacman could technically have donated around 10% – not ~ 5% – of his net worth and be done with it, he instead decided to ” pledge $ 100 million to St. Jude’s and bring the world’s first fully private crewed orbital space flight into existence.
Private orbital spaceflight is not unique – seven other paying customers have flown into orbit and returned to the 21st century. What Jared designed, however, is. Instead of a somewhat less inspiring hodgepodge of anyone wealthy enough to pay around $ 20-40 million for a seat, Isaacman chose to invite three relatively ordinary people for the ride and even raffled off l one of three “tickets” to any American willing to donate $ 10 or more to the fight against childhood cancer. One more step, thanks to an excellent and transparent presence on social networks, millions people around the world were able to follow the progress of the mission, watch much of it live and be generally in awe of a major step forward for spaceflight and inspired by one of the most eclectic and eclectic astronaut crews and ordinary of all time.
Specifically, millions of people (or at least hundreds of thousands, for now) could not have sensed the sheer joy of the first orbital cancer survivor to experience the largest and most unbroken window ever. fly in space for the first time. Officially known as the “Cupola,” SpaceX designed, engineered, built, qualified and flown the huge dome window in less than a year from start to finish.
Measuring approximately 1.2m (3.9ft) wide and approximately 0.8-1m (2.5-3.2ft) wide inside, the Inspiration4 dome may offer less internal volume than the ten-year-old dome of NASA’s International Space Station, but it makes up for the smaller space with the largest seamless window ever flown in space. Probably composed of several layers of acrylic domes similar to the “bubbles” that one can find in aquariums, the innermost “layer” of the dragon’s dome bears a strange brownish tint but the glass (technically plastic) is still almost completely transparent and has no “frame” or interruptions except for where it attaches to the spacecraft itself.
Fortunately, by all appearances, this brownish tint – perhaps some sort of optical coating or a tint to reduce glare – is not easily discernible from the inside when looking outwards. Instead, the uninterrupted window practically merges into a crystalline nothing, providing what has to be one of the best views available in space.
Given that SpaceX would have turned the Dragon Cupola from idea to reality in a single year and for a single customer, it’s hard to imagine what additional upgrades could be made on the future Dragon spacecraft. Already, a senior SpaceX director has said the company is seriously considering building one or more new Dragons just for private astronaut launches after receiving a massive surge in demand for tickets to orbit. Before Inspiration4 even collapsed, CEO Elon Musk promised future flights would offer in-flight internet and hot food with the addition of a small oven / heater and connection to his own constellation of satellites. Company starlink.
If SpaceX were to build an all-new Dragon just for private free-flight launches, it could potentially implement significant design changes as long as they didn’t significantly reduce safety. Since an exclusively free-flight dragon would never have to worry about docking in orbit, SpaceX might even be able to modify the nose and make the cupola wider and taller. The possibilities can be far infinity, but the fact that SpaceX would consider a modification as extreme as the cupola that flew on Inspiration4 in the first place suggests that the company is much more confident – and more willing to make big changes – than it might have been. guess before.
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