SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is the first privately-owned rocket to send passengers to space.
After almost two decades, Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX, successfully launched its first two people into space, commencing a new age of human space travel.
The flight would be the first time astronauts have launched into orbit from America in almost a decade.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are the first astronauts to enter space on a privately-owned rocket. They are also the first to pilot a spaceship using only touchscreen controls.
SpaceX’s new automated spacecraft, the Crew Dragon is a capsule designed to allow people travel to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Crew Dragon pilots have three large touchscreen panels in front of them and a few spare buttons below. So when they have to manually control the spacecraft, they do so using a video game-style interface on those screens.
SpaceX has been broadcasting footage of the test during its live stream. It was amazing to see astronauts fly their spacecraft around using the same display technology we use to tweet, check instagram, scroll through email, or swipe for Tinder dates.
Although, most of Crew Dragon’s flight are supposed to be automatic. Hence, if the flight goes well, they won’t need to use these controls again.
Even though it might not be as spectacular as what we see in sci-fi movies, watching pilots use touchscreens to fly rockets is a big leap to the future.
SpaceX, the company that manufactured Crew Dragon, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company owned by Elon Musk.
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Credits: The Verge