SpaceX invited a few reporters into its Hawthorne, California, headquarters on Monday for a close-up look at a new spaceship and spacesuit for NASA astronauts.
The aerospace company, founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, built its Crew Dragon hardware as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing also designed a new space capsule for NASA called the CST-100 Starliner.
NASA launched program in 2010 to replace its (now retired) space-shuttle fleet with privately developed American spacecraft – and stop paying Russia more and more money to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.
Crewed test launches of each spaceship are set to begin in 2019. But SpaceX is poised to send the commercial astronauts into space first, given that Boeing must fix leaky fuel valves on the CST-100 Starliner.
Some who climbed aboard SpaceX's mockups shared photos and videos of the event on Twitter and Instagram.
Here's a sample of some of the best footage and pictures, and what reporters said it was like inside:
For Monday's media event, SpaceX took a full-size mockup of the Crew Dragon capsule and rolled it outside its headquarters in greater Los Angeles.
Mockup of Crew Dragon capsule, with first-ever landed Falcon 9 first stage in background at #SpaceX HQ pic.twitter.com/5AKQkYcqns
— Michael Wall (@MichaelDWall) August 13, 2018
The spaceship is reportedly identical in appearance to the ones astronauts will fly, minus the expensive rocket engines.
The @SpaceX Crew Dragon mock-up capsule and our awesome photographer Raul Marin. @CNBC pic.twitter.com/E3tstgtBjQ
— jodi gralnick (@jodigralnick) August 13, 2018
Source: Twitter
NasaSpaceFlight.com photographer Jack Beyer said he was excited to climb aboard the ship. Beyer told Business Insider he used Snapchat Spectacles to record this ultrawide-angle video, which shows what is like to crawl inside the cabin.
Beyond excited to be at @SpaceX today for a Commercial Crew update! Here’s what it looks like to climb into a Crew dragon. @NASASpaceflight #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/1Ncmn98SKy
— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) August 13, 2018
Beyer also shared this clip of him twisting knobs and punching buttons on the mock control panel. "Plenty of room for four in here," he said, though the capsule can be configured to seat up to seven people.
Laying back in a seat poking at mock controls. Plenty of room for 4 in here. pic.twitter.com/E0xV1ihQWO
— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) August 13, 2018
CNBC producer Jodi Gralnick had a different take on the inside of Crew Dragon. "It's a bit of a tight fit!" she said on Twitter.
Inside the @SpaceX Crew Dragon mock-up. It’s a bit of a tight fit! @CNBC pic.twitter.com/Eles0skp8h
— jodi gralnick (@jodigralnick) August 13, 2018
Attendees got to step inside a simulator that astronauts are using to train for two test flights. If both missions go well, NASA says it will certify SpaceX's new ship for routine flight.
Simulator where Crew Dragon astronauts train #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/2MLrcwCOlb
— Michael Wall (@MichaelDWall) August 13, 2018
Source: Business Insider
Here's a close-up of the Crew Dragon simulator's seats. They're reclined to help astronauts' bodies withstand the punishing forces of launch and landing.
Inside the Crew Dragon simulator #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/6wfemAyOAc
— Michael Wall (@MichaelDWall) August 13, 2018
The simulator is equipped with working controls and gear that astronauts need to train for routine flight and emergencies. It even has a toilet and privacy curtain, says Stephen Clark of Spaceflight Now.
A peek inside the Crew Dragon trainer at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne. There’s room for three cargo pallets below the four seats. Above the seats, there’s a three-screen control panel, a toilet (with privacy curtain) and the docking hatch. pic.twitter.com/7XWUzDqm4C
— Stephen Clark (@StephenClark1) August 13, 2018
This photo, by Mat Kaplan of the Planetary Society, shows a forward hatch on top of Crew Dragon. The hardware will serve as a circular doorway into the space station after SpaceX's ship docks there.
@SpaceX Crew Dragon forward hatch. pic.twitter.com/OoBDq9GIuj
— Mat_Kaplan (@PlanRad) August 13, 2018
Robert Pearlman of Collect Space grabbed these shots of a control panel simulator, spacesuit helmet, and full-scale simulator seating.
Journalists also got a close-up view of the pressurized flight spacesuit that astronauts will wear inside the Crew Dragon. It's undeniably sleek.
Starman’s sibling? Either way, it’s the coolest pressure suit around. pic.twitter.com/bKEzdI7Z4N
— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) August 13, 2018
Its construction is also innovative. David Rosenfeld of The Beach Reporter said the spacesuit "is made from Nomex, a fire retardant fabric similar to Kevlar, a bleached variant of Teflon and leather."
Closeup of the glove pic.twitter.com/yO3G6GNvr3
— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) August 13, 2018
Source: Twitter
Journalists not only got to meet the two astronaut crews at SpaceX, but they also got to look at the actual spaceship hardware being built to fly them into orbit.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley (left and center-left) answer media questions in front of the Crew Dragon spacecraft they will fly on the Demo-2 crew test flight next year. pic.twitter.com/E2MzhqYa6j
— Stephen Clark (@StephenClark1) August 13, 2018
SpaceX's first of two crewed test flights of the spaceship is set for February. The ship will ride into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket with veterans Robert Behnken and Doug "Chunky" Hurley.
Source: Business Insider
NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins will fly the second crewed test mission later that year.
