NASA astronauts are about to fly a spacecraft using only a touchscreen

SpaceX is finally sending its first astronauts into space and for the first time they're going to control their spacecraft with a touchscreen. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Move of a star men SpaceX is finally ready to send humans into space. As part of masses commercial group programme,SpaceX is sending Nasa astronauts,both Bencon and Dark Harley to the international space station. No plus stop from the Falcon 9 rocket as part of the demo 2 mission This is the first time a private company has taken humans into space. And the first rocket launch on American soil, since the shuttle program ended in 2011. But things have changed a lot in nine years and this spacecraft is unlike anything NASA has ever used before. SpaceX is Crew Dragon capsule is designed to carry humans and cargo completely autonomously. In fact, in March 2020, it became the first spacecraft in American history to autonomously dock with the ISS. Thanks to its fully autonomous system Crew Dragon loses a lot of the controls we've seen in spacecraft in the past. There are some physical controls in case of emergency. But the wall of buttons and dials from back in the shuttle days that's been replaced by three large touch screens. These touch screens will show banking inherently what's going on, but they don't need to do a thing. The fully autonomous system will control the launch flight and talking with the ISS. If the astronauts need to take control, they'll just do it by tapping on the screen. The display even shows a camera feed from outside the capsule so they can see exactly where they need to dock with the ISS. Behnken and Holly both flew on shuttle missions in the early 2000s. They used to seeing every available surface crammed with buttons, switches and hand controls to maneuver the spacecraft. The touchscreens on the crow dragon don't give the same kind of tactile feedback. And that's kind of a big deal. Growing up as a pilot, my whole career having a certain way to control the vehicle, this is certainly different. The difference is that you've got to be very deliberate when you're putting an input in with a touchscreen relative to what you would do with a stick because you know. When you're flying an airplane, for example, if I push the stick forward, it's going to go down. I have to actually make a concerted effort to do that with a touchscreen. [MUSIC] Thank you and Haley will also be wearing new spacesuits with special gloves to help them use the touchscreens mid flight. Light. Those gloves aren't the only new feature on the spacesuit. Each suit is custom designed by SpaceX for whoever wears it. A single umbilical connection on the leg routes in cooling air and communication systems to the pressurized suit. And a 3D printed helmet gives it that very Daft Punk look We've certainly come a long way since the silver spacesuits of NASA's Mercury program. But that's not the only thing that's changed since the 60s. Back then, the spacecraft were so small that astronauts joked, you didn't get in, you put it on. Now, the Crew Dragon is designed to carry seven passengers, and it has three windows to give them all a good view. The idea is that this spacecraft could one day carry tourists into space. In fact, SpaceX has already partnered with tourism company Space Adventures to sell seats in the Crew Dragon for private passengers as early as 2021. But even though this space capsule looks futuristic, don't expect touchscreens to become the new normal for space travel. I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say that the right answer for all flying is to not switch to a touchscreen necessarily. But for the tasks that we have and the Capabilities to kind of keep ourselves safe flying close to the International Space Station. The touchscreen is gonna provide us that capability just fine. [MUSIC] Still, it's exciting to think that the next generation of astronauts and space tourists could fly into space without lifting a finger. All right guys, what do you think? Is this the future of space travel? Or do you kind of miss the knobs and dials of the old space shuttles? Let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe so we can bring you all the SpaceX news you need. FYI, my living room is smaller than the Crew Dragon. Fun fact loving recording from home