Astronauts discuss SpaceX Crew Dragon touchscreen controls

Posted on Wednesday, May 06 2020 @ 10:53 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The first manned flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for May 27th. While SpaceX has build a lot of experience with getting payloads into orbit, and returning the reusable first stages of its rockets safely back to Earth, getting humans into space will be a huge milestone.

One of the interesting things about the Crew Dragon spacecraft is that it looks more modern than what astronauts are used to. While the Russian Soyuz capsule, which is currently the only way to get to the International Space Station (ISS), has a ton of buttons and dials, SpaceX decided to go full touchscreen. A new article from TechCrunch offer some perspective from the two astronauts that will soon board Crew Dragon on what it's like to use the touchscreen, you can read it over here.
“It was on the order of at least 5 or 6 years ago that we went out to SpaceX and evaluated a bunch of different control mechanisms,” said Hurley. “They were looking at every which way of flying the vehicle, and ultimately they decided on a touchscreen interface.”

“Of course, you know, growing up as a pilot my whole career, having a certain way to control the vehicle, this is certainly different,” he continued. “But we went into it with a very open mind, I think, and worked with them to define the way you interface with it — the way your touches actually registered on the display, in order to be able to fly it cleanly and not make mistakes touching it, not potentially putting in a wrong input.”
SpaceX Dragon touchscreen


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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