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How a touchscreen controls SpaceX’s new spacecraft

When SpaceX and NASA send their first crewed commercial flight to the International Space Station, the astronauts on board will barely have to lift a finger.

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50 Comments

50 Comments

  1. Venka Dx

    May 26, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    Glass is glass and glass breaks .. I don’t think it’s a good idea to use a touch screen

    • KonFess

      May 26, 2020 at 10:18 pm

      @William Davis but isn’t the future UAV? Meaning these two astronauts cold eventually be just passengers, the most they would have to do is select a docking port. Even if there was a stick, wouldn’t it be digital? But even the shuttle was fly by wire, how different are the two systems? Not much I suppose. Telling a pilot that their years of muscle memory are for naught, because the new system is more in common with a game controller. Isn’t that the path aerospace has been on since the start?

      The flat panel display and touch screen was on NASA’s wish list from the start.

    • David The Swedish tech Guy

      May 26, 2020 at 10:21 pm

      Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name. Do you even know how cockpit dials and knobs are made? They are the ones surviving a crash 😂 it’s also why investigators check them to see in what positions the where when the plane hit the ground..

      At least a joystick and a must need panel should be there as a backup..

      A touchscreen is cool but I doubt it will be the primary input for long, just hearing the pilots/astronauts last statement on the subject tells it all.

    • David The Swedish tech Guy

      May 26, 2020 at 10:27 pm

      KonFess big difference! It’s all about input and feeling even if it’s fly by wire🤷‍♂️ force feedback is key even in FBW, but yeah you have a point if there’s no trained pilots onboard there’s no meaning having a joystick.

      Then you just need GO/DOCK/ABORT on the screen🤷‍♂️🥴

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:03 pm

      @William Davis Rocket’s are genrallly quite smooth, after launch that is. Not much turbulence in space to rock the boat

    • Kirk Claybrook

      May 27, 2020 at 12:23 am

      Some who have replied to your comment need to learn a bit more history…such as how Neil Armstrong probably wouldn’t have gone to the moon if Gemini 8 had touchscreens to control everything

  2. Karla Kirkpatrick

    May 26, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    the threads are nice but I see future uh oh’s let’s wait and see shall we?

    • Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name.

      May 26, 2020 at 9:39 pm

      As I’ve said elsewhere, switching to a touchscreen saves SpaceX money and time on development. Touchscreen works perfectly well for a trained crew such as this one. Also, most flight operations will take place autonomously

  3. Nyx

    May 26, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    oof… analog controls seem better for high stress/extreme situations.. scary, but good luck to them

    • Cool Gamer

      May 26, 2020 at 9:40 pm

      Nyx Look at the Space Shuttle Interior It was full of buttons that’s not very easy to find the Buttons there. Also Crew Dragon has the most important buttons still analog.

    • Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name.

      May 26, 2020 at 9:49 pm

      @Cool Gamer Not hard to find them if you’re a trained astronaut.. They have these interfaces memorized better than their own damn names! They tend to prefer analog dials, knobs, and buttons because it’s easier to control them without the need to look (as intensely), and because of the tactile feedback they get when using them for fine operations such as steering.

    • Le Chat Botté

      May 26, 2020 at 9:57 pm

      @Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name. i 💯 agree with you

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:08 pm

      @Le Chat Botté The buttons that are actually there are for emergencies and confirming action’s. The touchscreen’s can be used for many many things, like displaying camera views, HUD’s, flight checklists, etc. Filling in the space with loads of cramped buttons that serve only 1 purpose is a waste of space.

  4. luvitus bangton

    May 26, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    Wassup

  5. Johnny

    May 26, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    Start Trek today!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

  6. LegendaryDCC

    May 26, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    Future news: NEW 20” 8K ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION+ DISPLAY ON THE NEW ROCKETS AT 1000 FPS!

    • EyesOfByes

      May 26, 2020 at 9:26 pm

      And over 9000 nits!

  7. 0__0

    May 26, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    cool news. fantastic presentation. but i hate the colour pink :=(((

  8. Zandra

    May 26, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    loved it

  9. Brax889

    May 26, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    imagine if the touchscreen brakes 😀

    • Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name.

      May 26, 2020 at 9:36 pm

      It already does! But imagine if it broke :O

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:01 pm

      That’s why there are 3. Any on of the screen’s can do all the work, that’s the benefit of having an adaptable control system. Imagine if the single centre screen on the shuttle were to fail, that would’ve been much worse.

  10. TonoSama

    May 26, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    I love seeing Claire Reilly. She is the brightest object in any space story!

    • Buenaventura los Grandes

      May 26, 2020 at 11:53 pm

      S.I.M.P.

  11. 021

    May 26, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    ARE THEY USING UR EARS FOR A RADAR LOCK HOME SORRY I JUST HAD TOO

  12. VulturePilot

    May 26, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    Sounds like a horrible idea tbh

    • Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name.

      May 26, 2020 at 9:38 pm

      Saves SpaceX money and time on development. Touchscreen works perfectly well for a trained crew such as this one. Also, most flight operations will take place autonomously

    • Brandon_AC

      May 26, 2020 at 10:13 pm

      Are you crazy? You can fit hundreds of buttons on a single screen. Meanwhile on old systems you have to stretch your arms around the entire cockpit looking for a single button out of the hundreds in front of you. New buttons and functions can be added too as a result of using a touchscreen rather than physical buttons because it takes up less space.

    • Kirk Claybrook

      May 27, 2020 at 12:27 am

      ​@Once upon a time there was a man, and that man had a long name. Neil Armstrong would have disagreed with you. If Gemini 8 had touchscreen controls he would never have survived the trim back to earth, let alone going to the moon.

  13. SocialBounty Money Making App

    May 26, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    want to be youtube friends? Qiz1

  14. Jacob Laurenzana

    May 26, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    This is an exciting time to live 🙂

  15. Bruce Chan

    May 26, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    do u think that they will bring covid-19 to space?

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:00 pm

      The astronauts have been routinely tested and so have their familes and anyone who is in close contact with them, they’ve been in quarantine with their families in their homes in houston for 2 months and been in quarantine themselves for 2 week’s now prior to launch.

  16. m Day

    May 26, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    These guys are not going into space, they are going into the pool where the space station is held. No one is going to space……………the lie is getting out there!
    Earth is flat, we live under a dome and space does not exist.

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:05 pm

      Oh please go away, it’s been proven over and over again that it’s real and the earth is not flat. Please look at the facts, and no the only facts that support your argument, but all the facts.

  17. Prophet Of Truth

    May 26, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    Elon Musk for the win!

  18. David The Swedish tech Guy

    May 26, 2020 at 10:13 pm

    A yostick is a must even if it’s just for manual flight in my opinion 🤷‍♂️ a pilot needs input, even if it’s fly by wire.

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 11:09 pm

      Yeah, but you don’t really fly a spaceship like a plane. Have a go in Kerbal Space Program and you’ll see they act differently. Simply it’s positioning the aircraft to face a point and firing the engines for a set amount of time.

    • Kirk Claybrook

      May 27, 2020 at 12:18 am

      @Charles Butterworth You’re obviously unfamiliar with Gemini 8. I think the Russians had a similar situation too. A touchscreen would have been useless and probably would have seen someone other than Neil Armstrong being the first man on the moon.

  19. TJ

    May 26, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    They can put Millions of
    transistors on a single chip.
    Yet, the microphone on her desk is
    H U M O N G O U S.
    What’s that all about?

    • Theo JustTheo

      May 26, 2020 at 10:54 pm

      Yeah, the blue yeti mic is big and there are better options

    • Charles Butterworth

      May 26, 2020 at 10:59 pm

      It’s a Blue Yet Mic, one of the best recording mic’s. Smaller doesn’t always mean better. Like comparing a phone camera to a proper DSLR or Cinema Camera, if you’re making professional grade content for YouTube then a Yeti mic is the least you can do to improve sound quality.

  20. JoekerXXX

    May 26, 2020 at 10:46 pm

    Claire is funny, likes outer space, and is pretty. Triple threat.

  21. John McGowan

    May 26, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Stop saying “Finally”!!! What did you do this year?

  22. miss understood

    May 26, 2020 at 11:06 pm

    First time a man in space? Didn’t we go to the moon decades ago?

    • Willy Encinas

      May 26, 2020 at 11:58 pm

      First time for a private company

  23. Mark Davenport Jr

    May 26, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    Man that looks really clean AF! 🙂

    • Irwan Santoso

      May 27, 2020 at 1:25 am

      is it necessary to swear?

  24. Ricardo G

    May 27, 2020 at 12:30 am

    Hope COVID is not part of the cargo they’ll take into space.

  25. Joe

    May 27, 2020 at 1:15 am

    In the future they’ll name a Martian mountain range after Elon Musk.

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