[ad_1]
This year SpaceX began its flights with the Dragon capsule to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The expected moment came after several years of SpaceX using virtually the same capsule, but for the transport of goods.
From the start, Dragon Crew impressed everyone with its simplicity, compared to other well-known capsules, such as Soyuz and Apollo. The “avionics” space set consists of three LCD screens, with touch screen, and some buttons.
The ISS boom coupling, used in Dragon Cargo, has given way to an automated coupling, which streamlines the mission. Right now, SpaceX just needs to be able to make a trip to the ISS in under 5 hours, as the Russians do (sometimes).
On the last mission, the Dragon Crew carried four astronauts, including a Japanese, who described a bit what it was like to travel in the capsule.
At the age of 55, Soichi Noguchi has already participated in three other space missions. The first was in 2005, aboard the Space Shuttle, the second in 2009, when he traveled with the Soyuz, and now with the SpaceX mission.
It is only a third person in history to fly on three different spaceships.
When asked this week about his favorite, Noguchi didn’t hesitate: “Dragon is the best”, he told reporters on a call Thursday after he and his companions arrived at the International Space Station.
Noguchi described that the Dragon Crew are very modern, compared to other spaceships, and even more spacious inside, as we can see in the image above.
The astronaut veteran still hopes to add a fourth spacecraft to its list: SpaceX’s Starship, the launch system planned by the company for trips to the moon and Mars.
From Noguchi’s experience in space missions, it will not be difficult to be selected, if the spaceship is launched in this decade. On this mission alone, he will gain another 6 months of experience from an off-Earth life in microgravity conditions.
Via – Business Insider
[ad_2]
Source link
