Published 11:57 IST, June 7th 2020
'Incredible' rocket control console progression leaves even Elon Musk highly impressed
One of the most fascinating aspects of NASA-SpaceX's historic launch was the astronauts became the first to pilot a spaceship using only touchscreen controls.
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Two NASA astronauts last Sunday entered the International Space Station (ISS) from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft after a historic launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is the agency for space research, aeronautics and related programmes in the US and the pre-eminent such agency of its kind, alongside the ESA, JAXA, China's space agency and India's ISRO, confirmed the arrival of astronauts Bob Behnken (49) and Doug Hurley (53) at the ISS.
A spaceship with only touch screen controls
One of the most fascinating aspects was that both the astronauts became the first astronauts launched to space on a privately-owned rocket and they also became the first to pilot a spaceship using only touchscreen controls. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon refrained from using the infamous maze of manual controls and switches found on retired spacecraft like the Space Shuttle or the Apollo command modules.
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Instead, Crew Dragon pilots had just three large touchscreen panels in front of them and a few spare buttons below. A Twitter user named 'Weird History' shared an image of showing the difference between the controller of Apollo 4 (1967), Space Shuttle (2002) and Crew Dragon (2020). SpaceX owner Elon Musk also liked the tweet which has garnered over 10,000 likes at the time of publishing this article.
People responding to the tweet praised Elon Musk for bringing such change through his "game-changing vision"
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Top US leadership including President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and thousands of curious Americans had gathered to watch the launch live on a bright Sunday afternoon. Congratulating Musk, NASA and the astronauts, Trump described the launch day as a great day for the country.
The President said he spoke with Musk, whom he called one of the "great brains."
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'This is the first time in human history...'
With the liftoff, SpaceX became the first private company to launch people into the orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments: the US, Russia and China. This was SpaceX's second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard. This will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Programme.
(With PTI inputs)
11:57 IST, June 7th 2020