Elon Musk's company sent a trial version of the spacecraft for tourists into orbit
Elon Musk and his well-known SpaceX corporation are making another contribution to space tourism and its further development. This time, the company launched the Crew Dragon capsule into space, or a trial version of the space taxi. As part of the Demo-1 mission, the manned spacecraft goes in the direction of the International Space Station and, in order not to fly twice, at the same time carries 180 kg of cargo for the ISS. The "driver" of Crew Dragon is an anthropomorphic dummy doll dressed in stylish space outfit. Her name is Ripley, just like the main character of the famous film "Aliens". The dummy is equipped with sensors to analyze various indicators. The task of the new SpaceX project was to verify the safety of the Crew Dragon, and that flying into space on it does not pose a threat to possible space travelers. The mission will last about 5 days, and its results will add to the collection of information for future transport of astronauts.
The Crew Dragon capsule has become a modernized version of the robotic Dragon ship, which has been delivering cargo to the international space station for several years. In contrast to the base model, the Crew Dragon manned capsule has been supplemented with design details specifically designed for passengers, including additional seats, portholes, a new security complex, touch displays, emergency rescue systems for emergency situations. In addition to the external device and the fact that the creation of the Crew Dragon was space tourism, there are significant technical differences between the automated ships. For example, an earlier version of Dragon received a classic deployable solar panel device, so the space station helps it dock to itself. To do this, in her arsenal there is a manipulator arm with robotic elements. In this regard, the Crew Dragon has a slightly different design. Its solar panels are located in the cargo hold, resulting in direct docking of the passenger capsule to the ISS.
This is not the first experiment of the company, when "puppet" tourists in space went to "surf the vastness of the Universe" on a SpaceX rocket. In February 2018, Elon Musk's firm sent a super-heavy rocket called the Falcon Heavy. On board was another development of the Musk empire - the Tesla Roadster electric car, and the owner of this car was Elon Musk himself. A mannequin named Starman was appointed in charge of that flight. The current launch of the Crew Dragon space taxi as part of the Demo-1 unmanned flight is designed to test the functionality of the guided capsule systems within 6 days. If all goes according to the planned tasks, on March 8 the spacecraft will leave the International Space Station for home to Earth. Its splashdown is planned in the Atlantic Ocean. The Topic of Article: Elon Musk's company sent a trial version of the spacecraft for tourists into orbit. |
