American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, just got the green light from NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017. Previously, the company only had a contract to deliver supplies to the ISS but now, the SpaceX ‘Dragon’ is all set to ferry away humans.
The Elon Musk-owned company designed Dragon with four windows and a capacity of up to seven astronauts. Upon successful completion of the mission, SpaceX will become the first privately-owned corporation to launch humans into outer space.
Considering Musk also owns electric car manufacturing company Tesla Motors, it comes as no surprise that Dragon’s interior is highly-reminiscent of a sports car — carbon fibre construction and all.
Dragon’s fully-automated command module displays the position of the spacecraft, distance to destination, and conditions inside the fire-breathing beast itself. SpaceX engineers have also designed an innovative new emergency escape system, to launch astronauts out of the spacecraft in case anything goes wrong. The system has already been successfully tested.