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Back To The Future: Astronauts Return To American Launchpad In Sleek New Ride
After nearly a decade of NASA paying Russia to send humans into orbit, astronauts are about to launch from American soil once more, this time in a hypermodern vehicle.
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A demonstration of the spacesuit designed for the Crew Dragon capsule.
The single-piece suit is equipped with boots that clip securely into the Dragon’s seats, a flame-resistant Teflon outer skin, and touchscreen-friendly fingertips.
The single-piece suit is equipped with boots that clip securely into the Dragon’s seats, a flame-resistant Teflon outer skin, and touchscreen-friendly fingertips.
![Behnken and Hurley testing their suits. Musk hired the costume designer from the 2016 film Batman Vs. Superman to produce the real-life spacesuit. The SpaceX head said of the design: "[It] was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function. Easy to do either separately." ](https://gdb.rferl.org/11902849-5079-427C-A1D2-F1E01A64E70E_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Behnken and Hurley testing their suits.
Musk hired the costume designer from the 2016 film Batman Vs. Superman to produce the real-life spacesuit. The SpaceX head said of the design: "[It] was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function. Easy to do either separately."
Musk hired the costume designer from the 2016 film Batman Vs. Superman to produce the real-life spacesuit. The SpaceX head said of the design: "[It] was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function. Easy to do either separately."
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Extensive use of touchscreens in the Dragon marks a dramatic departure from previous spacecraft. Behnke says after a lifetime of flying with physical controls “the answer for all flying is not to switch to a touchscreen. But for the task that we have, and to keep ourselves safe flying close to the ISS, the touchscreen is gonna provide us that capability just fine.”
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A file photo showing the hundreds of physical controls in a retired space shuttle. Touchscreens allow swift changes to be made to the control interface through software updates, rather than replacing buttons and switches.