(Photo Credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX have taken a pivotal step in the private-sector race to provide NASA with safe and reliable transport to and from International Space Station.
Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, unveiled the new craft at an invite only event at the company’s headquarters in California on May 29th.
Named the Dragon V2, the new capsule is set to “revolutionize access to space” as it will be able to carry up to seven astronauts (or fewer passengers with cargo) and will be able to return and “land anywhere on earth with the accuracy of a helicopter“.
(Inside the vehicle – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
“The reason that this is really important,” said Musk “is that it allows rapid reusability of the spacecraft. You just refill the propellant, and go again…imagine if air crafts were thrown away after each flight; no one could afford to fly.”
(Animation of the Dragon V2 docking to the ISS – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
The Dragon’s latest technology will enable the craft to be rapidly reloaded with propellant fuel and reused. Elon insisted that the Dragon V2 will be able to be launched again without any delay.
Musk stated: “This is extremely important for revolutionising access to space because as long as we continue to throw away rockets and space crafts, we will never truly have access to space, it’ll always be incredibly expensive.”
(The Dragon V2’s seats – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
Dragon V2 looks sleek, clean and impressive. Inside the capsule are touch screen displays, as well as manual buttons and controls in the event of an emergency or the need to manually dock or land the craft.
(Musk inside the craft, the touch screen displays are visible – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
(The craft’s manual control panel – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
The vehicle will be a massive upgrade of SpaceX’s smaller, unmanned craft. The company have already made four successful cargo flights to the International Space Station with its Dragon V1. The resupply ship recently brought back nearly two tonnes of equipment and science experiments when the capsule splashed down into the Pacific (read more here).
Dragon V1 used parachutes to descend and land in the Pacific, however Dragon V2 will land using thrusters. A soft-landing anywhere on Earth can occur through the use of retro-rockets and retractile legs.
(The interior – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
Musk explained the craft will have a parachute in case an emergency with the descent thrusters occurs, however the craft plans to land on earth, without the need of a parachute, which the Russian Soyuz crew craft currently depends upon. Dragon V2 will even be able to land with its SuperDraco thrusters if three engines fail.
Dragon V1′s ‘Draco’ engines were able to produce about 100 pounds of thrust to manoeuvre and land the craft; however each of the Dragon V2′s ‘Super Draco’ engines can produce about 16,000 pounds of thrust.
(The craft’s exterior – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
Since the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA and other international space agencies have been forced to rely on the Russian Federal Space Agency to transport astronauts to the ISS and back. They have had to pay Roscosmos nearly £42m per seat ($71m).
Wanting to end the reliance on Russia, NASA has been on the hunt for a commercial craft to ferry its astronauts to the space station. The space agency wants to launch from American soil from 2017 therefore it has been providing support and funding for a number of private projects.
(Dragon V2 animation – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
Other companies such as Boeing have been competing for the right to ferry astronauts to the station, however SpaceX are the first to reveal a fully functioning craft, not a mock up.
With recent political tensions between NASA and Roscosmos, the Dragon V2 couldn’t have been revealed at a better time.
At the end of last month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin responded to American sanctions against Russia by suggesting that NASA could use “trampolines” next time American astronauts wanted to reach the International Space Station.
Within hours of these threats, Elon Musk publicly pledged to reveal a manned spacecraft by the end of the next month, a promise he fulfilled last night.
(Animation of the craft’s rocket thrusters landing the vehicle – Photo Credit: SpaceX)
John Logsdon, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said it was important for the US to move away a reliance on Russia for space travel. He stated: “It’s essential to have our own capability to transport people to space,” he added “This is an important step in that direction”.
NASA and SpaceX hope that the Dragon V2 spacecraft should be ready for flight by 2017.
If you want to watch the grand unveiling, you can do so here.
The Solar System & Beyond 
There is only one down-side to THIS story— we must wait 3 more years!!