Skip to main content

SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to get a glass dome for panoramic views

SpaceX

A new version of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will include a glass dome offering those traveling aboard the capsule panoramic views of Earth, the moon, and beyond.

According to an image (below) posted online by SpaceX, the dome will be at the tip of the capsule, hidden beneath a protective section that will lift away once the spacecraft reaches orbit. The design is possible because this particular Crew Dragon won’t be docking with the International Space Station (ISS), eliminating the need for a hatch at the top.

Recommended Videos

A new view for crew pic.twitter.com/iSVwUyJT5R

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 30, 2021

Retweeting the image to his 50 million followers, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote: “Probably most ‘in space’ you could possibly feel by being in a glass dome.”

The only comparable design currently in space is the ISS’s Cupola, a seven-window observatory module that was added to the orbiting satellite in 2010 to offer astronauts the best vantage point of our planet and beyond. It’s from there that ISS astronauts take many of the photos they share online.

Inspiration4 mission

The unveiling came on the same day that SpaceX’s first-ever all-civilian mission — Inspiration4 — revealed the remaining crew members for a launch scheduled to take place later this year. And yes, they’ll get to peer out of the dome during their three days in orbit.

Inspiration4 was announced in February 2021, with Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman set to command the mission. Hayley Arceneaux was recently announced as the second crew member, meaning she’ll be the first bone cancer survivor to become an astronaut, the first person with a prosthetic body part to travel to space, and, at 29, the youngest American to orbit Earth.

This week, the mission announced Dr. Sian Proctor and Christopher Sembroski as the final two crew members. Proctor, a trained pilot, gained selection via an online business competition, while Sembroski currently works at Lockheed Martin and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Notably, the crew on the Inspiration4 mission will have a slightly different view of Earth than the ISS astronauts as it will be aiming for an orbit of 355 miles above our planet, whereas the space station orbits at around 250 miles.

Space tourism

The current Crew Dragon capsule, which has already transported two lots of astronauts to the ISS in the past eight months, features windows around the side, but the inclusion of a glass dome will give the spacecraft that extra wow factor that could boost the company’s efforts to attract customers to its planned space tourism business. The likes of Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are also aiming to enter the same market in the next year or two.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
What to expect from SpaceX’s sixth megarocket test flight
SpaceX's Super Heavy launch during the fifth test flight of the Starship.

As it unleashes a record 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, the sight of SpaceX’s 120-meter-tall Starship rocket roaring skyward is something to behold.

The Elon Musk-led spaceflight company has already performed five Starship flights since the first one in April 2023, with each one more successful than the last. Comprising the upper-stage Starship spacecraft and the first-stage Super Heavy booster (collectively known as the Starship), the giant vehicle willo be used by NASA for crew and cargo missions to the moon, Mars, and possibly beyond.

Read more
SpaceX reveals date for next flight of Starship megarocket
The Starship launching from Starbase in October 2024.

SpaceX has revealed that it is targeting Monday, November 18, for the sixth test of the Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft.

The massive vehicle, which creates around 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, is set to be used by NASA for crew and cargo missions to the moon, and possibly even Mars, though there’s still much testing to be done.

Read more
A SpaceX Crew Dragon is doing a shuffle at the ISS — here’s how to watch
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov approaches the International Space Station as it orbits 259 miles above Oregon.

This week will see a special maneuver at the International Space Station (ISS) as a SpaceX Crew Dragon takes one of the tiniest flights ever, hopping just a few meters over from one port of the station to another. And NASA will live stream the event, so you'll be able to watch the spacecraft take this short flight as it happens.

The changeover is necessary to make space for another SpaceX craft that will arrive on Monday, October 4. But this new arrival won't carry any crew as it is a cargo craft, part of the 31st commercial resupply services mission by SpaceX. This new arrival will dock at the forward-facing port on the Space Station's Harmony module, as it is easiest for craft to dock there than on the space-facing side. But the Crew Dragon is currently occupying this port, so it needs to undock, move to the other space-facing port, and redock there.

Read more