Look How Much Nicer The Interior Of Elon Musk's Space Capsule Is Compared To The Soyuz

Look How Much Nicer The Interior Of Elon Musk's Space Capsule Is Compared To The Soyuz

The Dragon V2 spacecraft, unveiled at SpaceX headquarters on Thursday, can carry seven astronauts to the International Space Station.

SpaceX revealed on Thursday an updated version of its cargo-only carrying Dragon spacecraft, showing off the new capsule's sleek interior with room to seat seven astronauts.

The Dragon V2 is much more spacious than the Russia Soyuz spacecraft, which fits three crew members and has been NASA's only way of sending American astronauts to space since the agency shut down its shuttle program in 2011.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli (right), pictured inside the Soyuz with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, called the capsule "small but reliable" on his Flickr page after returning to Earth from the space station in May 2011.

Other upgrades on the Dragon V2 include a control panel that swings down and locks into position after the crew is seated and super thrusters that will enable the crew to escape if there's a problem at any point during flight. The Dragon capsule is also designed to be reusable, which will reduce the cost of sending people into space.

The control panel inside the Dragon V2.

Space X and two other companies, Boeing and the Sierra Nevada Corp., have received funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to develop a space taxi, with the goal of having one ready to fly crew to the space station by 2017.

The Dragon V2 spacecraft is expected to fly for the first time later this year.

Click link for remainder of article...

So much for the contingent that thinks Russia owns NASA when it comes to space operations. This still does not take into account the other crew based variants under development / testing. It also does not include any military assets, like the X-37B. While its nice to have partners in space that can help offset cost to everyone's benefit, its still nice to see innovation and adaptation during times of unfriendliness.

I have to believe that this is close to a final design. There is no way that any engineer worth their salt would waste that much volume in a spacecraft.

So much more room, well I guess we should be comparing it to the space shuttle anyway, that was the last mode of American Transportation to space, far more advanced than the soyuz, though I don't think the soyuz has fatalities. the shuttle does. or am I wrong? anyway it looks like a spaceship compared to a space pill. - nrd101

originally posted by: Xcathdra

So much for the contingent that thinks Russia owns NASA when it comes to space operations. This still does not take into account the other crew based variants under development / testing. It also does not include any military assets, like the X-37B. While its nice to have partners in space that can help offset cost to everyone's benefit, its still nice to see innovation and adaptation during times of unfriendliness.

I'm definitely with you on this part, but just to play devil's advocate... Wasn't this designed by SpaceX, a private firm owned/lead by Elon Musk, and not NASA?

In this case though the room is most likely because the initial design was non human cargo. Because the vessel is automated there really is no need to overdesign something for a human to fly. The other nice feature is the possible use as an escape pod from the ISS.

Looking long term I am curious if these things can be hooked together in orbit and used as a ferry to a higher orbit ISS / Construction facilities / moon base / etc.

originally posted by: ScientiaFortisDefendit
I have to believe that this is close to a final design. There is no way that any engineer worth their salt would waste that much volume in a spacecraft.

It sounds logical, but is it not more weight than volume that is crucial not to waste?

Edit: It looks awesome by the way - actually it looks like the future is finally here.

That's probably because the Dragon is brand-new, whereas the basic Soyuz capsule has been in service since the '60s. And the Russians are still the only official partner of the ISS with manned capability, not to mention their production base and general heavy lift capacity. The Proton-M rocket has 20,000lbs more load capacity than the SpaceX Falcon 9.

a reply to: Xcathdra

I don't know about anyone else, but the Soyuz just looks so much safer.
The V2 looks like the set for a sci fi movie where bad stuff will soon happen.

a reply to: parad0x122

Correct however initial funding came from NASA and the adaptations made also came from NASA, specifically for advancement of this nature. With no shuttle NASA has been put into the position of finding a replacement that meets federal / international guidelines while at the same time acting as an interface of private industry into the space program.

I am a firm believer in the concept of private entities being able to build something better and more efficient than the government. Granted the government almost always starts the industry due to cost and need. We are starting to see the result of that torch being passed to private industry.

reusable...
reliable...
spacious...

All that's needed to exploit this is a Hotel in Space and one on the moon.

To be a bit coarse, the inside of the average outhouse is nicer than the inside of a Soyuz. They aren't known for their comfort.

originally posted by: nrd101
So much more room, well I guess we should be comparing it to the space shuttle anyway, that was the last mode of American Transportation to space, far more advanced than the soyuz, though I don't think the soyuz has fatalities. the shuttle does. or am I wrong? anyway it looks like a spaceship compared to a space pill. - nrd101

Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11 both suffered fatalities.
1 dead in Soyuz 1.
Three dead in Soyuz 11.

Wikipedia: Soyuz

a reply to: Xcathdra

Totally! I was really surprised that Congress put an axe to that pending contract in regard to continuing to purchase a lot of our rocketry from Russia. I really do think it's a numbers game. With companies such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic coming into the mix in addition to NASA I hope we, as a HUMAN race, will accelerate our progress into the exploration of space. I believe with this as a priority, we might eventually come to the realization that wasting time trying to blow each other up is a pretty trivial thing to do, when there's an entire Universe out there yet to be discovered. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be the case until we as a people start to form a bit of humility, and learn to respect one another first.

I've always maintained that if your going to spend all that money on a spaceship, at least make it look cool on the inside! I mean, the ISS looks like salvaged spare parts from a junk yard, put together by a bunch of imaginative kids.

Can't they put removable panels on the walls to hide all the cords and hoses? Can't the lighting be better (dimmable/color changing LED's?)

eh; soyuz has been in operation since the late 1960's;
if its one thing that the russian space-program is good at its not fixing what isn't broke. (hence after soyuz 1 and soyuz 11 there were some changes made, but overall the capsule remained relatively the same.)

The US went through Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, The Space Shuttle,

while USSR/Russia went through

Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz.

SpaceX and really the whole commercial crew effort is so successful mostly because its not using traditional means of contracting.

Looks cool got nothing on my new Cutlass



From Star citizen btw.

I noticed how much the first picture looks like various art from SC.
If I can't join em up there I will do it virtually

S&F.

a reply to: boymonkey74

If only we could make space vessels like that... Or the Defiant from DS9... either way its nice to see the space topic fighting its way back into the main stream media. Interesting game by the way.. Ill need to check it out.

In with the new out with the old IMO

Of course a familiar design will always look and feel safer it we must push on with the future and the new, and as someone mentioned.. It's about time we started making spacecraft designs looks like the future we imagined

Looks great

Anyways

originally posted by: Xcathdra
Look How Much Nicer The Interior Of Elon Musk's Space Capsule Is Compared To The Soyuz

The Dragon V2 spacecraft, unveiled at SpaceX headquarters on Thursday, can carry seven astronauts to the International Space Station.

SpaceX revealed on Thursday an updated version of its cargo-only carrying Dragon spacecraft, showing off the new capsule's sleek interior with room to seat seven astronauts.

The Dragon V2 is much more spacious than the Russia Soyuz spacecraft, which fits three crew members and has been NASA's only way of sending American astronauts to space since the agency shut down its shuttle program in 2011.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli (right), pictured inside the Soyuz with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, called the capsule "small but reliable" on his Flickr page after returning to Earth from the space station in May 2011.

Other upgrades on the Dragon V2 include a control panel that swings down and locks into position after the crew is seated and super thrusters that will enable the crew to escape if there's a problem at any point during flight. The Dragon capsule is also designed to be reusable, which will reduce the cost of sending people into space.

The control panel inside the Dragon V2.


Space X and two other companies, Boeing and the Sierra Nevada Corp., have received funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to develop a space taxi, with the goal of having one ready to fly crew to the space station by 2017.

The Dragon V2 spacecraft is expected to fly for the first time later this year.

Click link for remainder of article...

So much for the contingent that thinks Russia owns NASA when it comes to space operations. This still does not take into account the other crew based variants under development / testing. It also does not include any military assets, like the X-37B. While its nice to have partners in space that can help offset cost to everyone's benefit, its still nice to see innovation and adaptation during times of unfriendliness.

Yeah great rar rar rar Merika.

But why wasnt it rolled out in 2010?

Why has NASA had to use Russia as taxi for this long?

Not to say it doesnt look like a great craft.

But you should already be flying around in it.

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: Xcathdra
Look How Much Nicer The Interior Of Elon Musk's Space Capsule Is Compared To The Soyuz

The Dragon V2 spacecraft, unveiled at SpaceX headquarters on Thursday, can carry seven astronauts to the International Space Station.

SpaceX revealed on Thursday an updated version of its cargo-only carrying Dragon spacecraft, showing off the new capsule's sleek interior with room to seat seven astronauts.

The Dragon V2 is much more spacious than the Russia Soyuz spacecraft, which fits three crew members and has been NASA's only way of sending American astronauts to space since the agency shut down its shuttle program in 2011.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli (right), pictured inside the Soyuz with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, called the capsule "small but reliable" on his Flickr page after returning to Earth from the space station in May 2011.

Other upgrades on the Dragon V2 include a control panel that swings down and locks into position after the crew is seated and super thrusters that will enable the crew to escape if there's a problem at any point during flight. The Dragon capsule is also designed to be reusable, which will reduce the cost of sending people into space.

The control panel inside the Dragon V2.


Space X and two other companies, Boeing and the Sierra Nevada Corp., have received funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to develop a space taxi, with the goal of having one ready to fly crew to the space station by 2017.

The Dragon V2 spacecraft is expected to fly for the first time later this year.

Click link for remainder of article...

So much for the contingent that thinks Russia owns NASA when it comes to space operations. This still does not take into account the other crew based variants under development / testing. It also does not include any military assets, like the X-37B. While its nice to have partners in space that can help offset cost to everyone's benefit, its still nice to see innovation and adaptation during times of unfriendliness.

Yeah great rar rar rar Merika.

But why wasnt it rolled out in 2010?

Why has NASA had to use Russia as taxi for this long?

Cost cutting...

And throwing it into more R&D for new projects and engines

originally posted by: nrd101
So much more room, well I guess we should be comparing it to the space shuttle anyway, that was the last mode of American Transportation to space, far more advanced than the soyuz, though I don't think the soyuz has fatalities. the shuttle does. or am I wrong? anyway it looks like a spaceship compared to a space pill. - nrd101

j

Yeah there were two in the first generation soyuz. Both were more simole errors rather than fundemental or repeatble problems.

As been pointed out before soyuz and shuttle cant be compared as both were designed for diffrent roles.

Were nasa went wrong with the shuttle was it should gave kept a cheaper soyuz like craft of its own going in tangent with the shuttle as the shuttle was quite frankly overkill for the majority of missions,