The Future of Space Travel: A Touchscreen Revolution?

SpaceX is finally sending its first astronauts into space and for the first time they're going to control their spacecraft with a touchscreen move-over Starman. SpaceX is finally ready to send humans into space as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program. SpaceX is sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station they'll blast off on the Falcon 9 rocket as part of the demo2 mission.

This marks the first time a private company has taken humans into space and the first rocket launched on American soil since the shuttle program ended in 2011. But things have changed a lot in 9 years and this spacecraft is unlike anything NASA has ever used before. SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsule is designed to carry humans and cargo completely autonomously.

In fact, in March 2020, it became the first spacecraft in American history to autonomously dock with the ISS thanks to its fully autonomous system. Crew Dragon loses a lot of the controls we've seen in spacecraft in the past there are some physical controls in case of emergency but the wall of buttons and dials from back in the shuttle days that's been replaced by three large touchscreens. These displays will show Behnken and Hurley everything that's going on inside and outside the spacecraft.

The crew dragon is capable of flying completely autonomously but because this is a test flight, the astronauts will also use the touch screens to test manual flight near the ISS. Behnken and Hurley both flew on shuttle missions in the early 2000s. They used to sing every available surface crammed with buttons switches and hand controls to maneuver the spacecraft.

The touch screens on the crew dragon don't give the same kind of tactile feedback and that's kind of a big deal growing up as a pilot, my whole career having a certain way to control the vehicle this is certainly different. The difference is, you've got to be very deliberate when you're putting an input in with a touchscreen relative to what you would do with a stick because you know when you're flying an airplane for example if I push the stick forward it's going to go.

I have to actually make a concerted effort to do that with a touchscreen. Behnken and Hurley will also be wearing new spacesuits with special gloves to help them use the touch screens mid-flight those gloves aren't the only new feature on the spacesuit each suit is custom designed by SpaceX for whoever wears it a single umbilical connection on the leg routes in cooling air and communication systems to the pressurized suit and a 3D printed helmet gives it that very daftpunk look.

We've certainly come a long way since the silver spacesuits of NASA's Mercury program but that's not the only thing that's changed since the 60s back then the spacecraft was so small that astronauts joked you didn't get in it you put it on now. The crew Dragon is designed to carry seven passengers and it has three windows to give them all a good view.

The idea is that this spacecraft could one day carry tourists into space in fact, SpaceX has already partnered with tourism company Space Adventures to sell seats in the crew dragon for private passengers as early as 2021. But even though this space capsule looks futuristic don't expect touchscreens to become the new normal for space travel I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say that the right answer for all flying is to not switch to a touchscreen necessarily.

But for the tasks that we have and the capabilities to kind of keep ourselves safe flying close to the International Space Station, the touchscreen is going to provide us that capability just fine. Still it's exciting to think that the next generation of astronauts and space tourists could fly into space without lifting a finger. Alright guys what do you think is this the future of space travel or do you kind of miss the knobs and dials of the old space shutles let me know in the comments below.

And FYI my living room is smaller than the crew dragon fun fact loving recording from home

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSpaceX is finally sending its first astronauts into space and for the first time they're going to control their spacecraft with a touchscreen move-over Starman SpaceX is finally ready to send humans into space as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program SpaceX is sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station they'll blast off on the Falcon 9 rocket as part of the demo2 mission this is the first time a private company has taken humans into space and the first rocket launched on American soil since the shuttle program ended in 2011 but things have changed a lot in 9 years and this spacecraft is unlike anything nASA has ever used before SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsule is designed to carry humans and cargo completely autonomously in fact in March 2020 it became the first spacecraft in American history to autonomously dock with the ISS thanks to its fully autonomous system crew dragon loses a lot of the controls we've seen in spacecraft in the past there are some physical controls in case of emergency but the wall of buttons and dials from back in the shuttle days that's been replaced by three large touchscreens these displays will show bankin and Hurley everything that's going on inside and outside the spacecraft the crew dragon is capable of flying completely autonomously but because this is a test flight the astronauts will also use the touch screens to test manual flight near the ISS bankin and Hurley both flew on shuttle missions in the early 2000s they used to sing every available surface crammed with buttons switches and hand controls to maneuver the spacecraft the touch screens on the crew dragon don't give the same kind of tactile feedback and that's kind of a big deal growing up as a pilot my whole career having a certain way to control the vehicle this is certainly different the difference is is you've got to be very deliberate when you're putting an input in with a touchscreen relative to what you would do with a stick because you know when you're flying an airplane for example if I push the stick forward it's going to go I have to actually make a concerted effort to do that with a touchscreen bankin and Hurley will also be wearing new spacesuits with special gloves to help them use the touch screens mid-flight those gloves aren't the only new feature on the spacesuit each suit is custom designed by SpaceX for whoever wears it a single umbilical connection on the leg routes in cooling air and communication systems to the pressurized suit and a 3d printed helmet gives it that very daftpunk look we've certainly come a long way since the silver spacesuits of NASA's Mercury program but that's not the only thing that's changed since the 60s back then the spacecraft was so small that astronauts joked you didn't get in it you put it on now the crew Dragon is designed to carry seven passengers and it has three windows to give them all a good view the idea is that this spacecraft could one day carry tourists into space in fact SpaceX has already partnered with tourism company space adventures to sell seats in the crew Dragon for private passengers as early as 2021 but even though this space capsule looks futuristic don't expect touchscreens to become the new normal for space travel I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say that the right answer for all flying is to not switch to a touchscreen necessarily but for the tasks that we have and the capabilities to kind of keep ourselves safe flying close to the International Space Station the touchscreen is going to provide us that capability just fine still it's exciting to think that the next generation of astronauts and space tourists could fly into space without lifting a finger alright guys what do you think is this the future of space travel or do you kind of miss the knobs and dials of the old space shuttles let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe so we can bring you all the spacex news you need FYI my living room is smaller than the crew dragon fun fact loving recording from homeSpaceX is finally sending its first astronauts into space and for the first time they're going to control their spacecraft with a touchscreen move-over Starman SpaceX is finally ready to send humans into space as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program SpaceX is sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station they'll blast off on the Falcon 9 rocket as part of the demo2 mission this is the first time a private company has taken humans into space and the first rocket launched on American soil since the shuttle program ended in 2011 but things have changed a lot in 9 years and this spacecraft is unlike anything nASA has ever used before SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsule is designed to carry humans and cargo completely autonomously in fact in March 2020 it became the first spacecraft in American history to autonomously dock with the ISS thanks to its fully autonomous system crew dragon loses a lot of the controls we've seen in spacecraft in the past there are some physical controls in case of emergency but the wall of buttons and dials from back in the shuttle days that's been replaced by three large touchscreens these displays will show bankin and Hurley everything that's going on inside and outside the spacecraft the crew dragon is capable of flying completely autonomously but because this is a test flight the astronauts will also use the touch screens to test manual flight near the ISS bankin and Hurley both flew on shuttle missions in the early 2000s they used to sing every available surface crammed with buttons switches and hand controls to maneuver the spacecraft the touch screens on the crew dragon don't give the same kind of tactile feedback and that's kind of a big deal growing up as a pilot my whole career having a certain way to control the vehicle this is certainly different the difference is is you've got to be very deliberate when you're putting an input in with a touchscreen relative to what you would do with a stick because you know when you're flying an airplane for example if I push the stick forward it's going to go I have to actually make a concerted effort to do that with a touchscreen bankin and Hurley will also be wearing new spacesuits with special gloves to help them use the touch screens mid-flight those gloves aren't the only new feature on the spacesuit each suit is custom designed by SpaceX for whoever wears it a single umbilical connection on the leg routes in cooling air and communication systems to the pressurized suit and a 3d printed helmet gives it that very daftpunk look we've certainly come a long way since the silver spacesuits of NASA's Mercury program but that's not the only thing that's changed since the 60s back then the spacecraft was so small that astronauts joked you didn't get in it you put it on now the crew Dragon is designed to carry seven passengers and it has three windows to give them all a good view the idea is that this spacecraft could one day carry tourists into space in fact SpaceX has already partnered with tourism company space adventures to sell seats in the crew Dragon for private passengers as early as 2021 but even though this space capsule looks futuristic don't expect touchscreens to become the new normal for space travel I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say that the right answer for all flying is to not switch to a touchscreen necessarily but for the tasks that we have and the capabilities to kind of keep ourselves safe flying close to the International Space Station the touchscreen is going to provide us that capability just fine still it's exciting to think that the next generation of astronauts and space tourists could fly into space without lifting a finger alright guys what do you think is this the future of space travel or do you kind of miss the knobs and dials of the old space shuttles let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe so we can bring you all the spacex news you need FYI my living room is smaller than the crew dragon fun fact loving recording from home\n"