SpaceX's Starship: The Importance of a Good Window
In a classic scene from The Right Stuff, the first American astronauts, in shiny early-60’s era vacuum suits, argue with NASA engineers for a window in the Mercury capsule. Legends of spaceflight; John Glenn, Gus Grissom, and Alan Shepard, make the case for a “spacecraft” over a “capsule”. They take turns lecturing German engineers on how it is public funding getting the ship off the ground. If the public thinks the astronauts can’t see, and thus aren't actually flying, funding stops. Without a window, the popular romance of spaceflight can’t exist.
John F. Kennedy and John Glenn inspect the Mercury capsule, 1962.
Credit: Smithsonian.
Today, we are on the cusp of a new, permanent push into space. It balances the data-driven technologies of the 21st century and the unrelenting human drive to explore and risk. But even with our high technology, windows are no less important. The porthole on the Mercury spacecraft was, and I'm judging purely off the size of John F. Kennedy’s head, no more than about 3 feet long. Windows on the interplanetary ships of the near future are an order of magnitude larger.
SpaceX’s Starship will change everything. I frequently ramble to anyone who will listen, admittedly not many, that it is the most important piece of technology since the printing press. If it is realized in its totality, it will unlock the Moon for permanent settlement. It will give NASA the dream it has held for over 50 years, Mars. It will also open the door to the mystical moons of Jupiter: the volcanic landscape of Io, icy Europa which is a major candidate for life, Ganymede which is so large that it has its own magnetosphere, and the barren craters of Callisto. All of these worlds are within a cosmic spitting distance of Earth, begging to be explored. For the first time in human history, the Solar System will be open for business, and Starship will give us the key.
Artist rendering of Starship in orbit around Saturn.
Credit: SpaceX.
Starship is still in development: SpaceX employs hundreds of South Texas water tower builders to construct giant steel drums, fill them with liquid nitrogen, and stress test them until they explode. The list of fallen prototypes grows violently by the week. Nevertheless, Elon Musk is hopeful that the first Starship prototype will launch before the end of this year and sail human colonists to Mars by the late 2020s. Hopeful is the active adjective. Musk is an extreme optimist. His aggressive timeframes have frequently missed, but his technological promises have almost always landed. Take the recent Crew Dragon launch to the International Space Station or the successful dual booster landing of the Falcon Heavy as examples. Both were years behind schedule, but they still happened. Most importantly, for all of Musk’s Twitter shortcomings, he understands the human element of spaceflight. He understands the importance of a good window.
Artist rendering of Starship’s observation deck.
Credit: SpaceX
Starship is more like an ocean liner than a traditional NASA “capsule”. With a massive transparent screen and a steel supporting lattice stretching over its 9-meter diameter and across much of the length of its 19-meter nose cone, Starship will give a panoramic view of the worlds it explores. When the first skeleton crew of NASA astronauts reaches Mars, they will have a complete view of the stark colors of the Red planet suspended in a sea of stars. They will take images of themselves, floating in the large observation deck of Starship. These shots will be broadcast around the world, and they will be incredible. Not just Mars though. The same process will be replicated across the near solar system. Imagine astronauts floating in front of the massive window, the stunning clouds of Jupiter and its moons in the background. It will be a beckoning call to everyone on Earth, and Starship will be the tool that makes it all possible. The images will endure in historic memory for millennia. In the same category as those of Yuri Gagarin strapped into his Vostok capsule and Neil Armstrong taking those first fateful steps into the lunar regolith. For the waves of scientists and settlers that follow, Starship’s window will be a reminder of the significance of their task and the immensity of our environment.
In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 captured a surreal image as it orbited the moon for the first time in human history. The photo, “Earthrise”, forced the world to realize that the space age had truly arrived. If it were not for the tiny windows in the Apollo command module, the image, which has influenced the lives of countless people across the world, would not have been possible. It came during a challenging social reckoning following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the height of the Vietnam War. Many are inclined to draw comparisons between the global pandemic and the George Floyd protests to the social conditions of 1968. However, I would like to believe that the social change we are experiencing will be more impactful. The space industry is still overwhelmingly, as someone put it to me recently, “white dudish”. Hopefully, the future of human space exploration brought by Starship will be one that is inclusive to all.
Earthrise, 1968.
Credit: NASA.
Starship’s incredible window is anything but set in stone. Many engineering hurdles stand in the way, and the last thing I want to do is oversell this idea. Remember that SpaceX is still in the exploding water tower phase of development. But if I had to bet on anyone now, it would be Elon Musk. His promises rarely happen on time, but when they inevitably become reality, they seem like magic. This one is especially important. The view out a Starship window will be spectacular, and it is a view that we should all plan to see very soon.
Artist rendering of Starship’s observation deck and Mars.
Credit: Business Insider.
Harry Thomas is a senior in the College studying Economics and Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA). He is a Co-President and Co-Founder of Georgetown University Space Initiative.