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by JoblessWonder 3939 days ago
> http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/images/dragon/inter...

It seems like those are emergency signals... but I wonder what "DEORBIT NEXT" means?

And also... It seems like an interesting choice to not have physical buttons, especially if they are going to be in some sort of spacesuit.

3 comments

I imagine 'DEORBIT NEXT' would be something along the lines of 'deorbit the next time we're flying over the US' while 'DEORBIT NOW' would be more of a 'get to the ground ASAP, I don't care where' option. Medium and high priority abort scenarios, basically.
I'm actually wondering what would be more reliable: a physical button or a digital one. I would like to see a comparison.

Of course, one could argue that in both cases it depends on the implementation. Nonetheless, I think it's fun to think about what kind of buttons would the average person prefer, when their life is on the line.

I was thinking the same thing - sure, it's cool to have a glossy touch screen and futuristic touch panels, but I can't count the number of times touch screens / buttons have gone wonky on me with everything from my cell phone, to my tablet, to my microwave, to my fridge, whereas the light switches in my house are about 50 years old and have yet to let me down...
I'd find it really surprising if touch screen buttons are more reliable and/or more preferable to astronauts in a space suit.
Maybe to alert the crew to prepare for re-entry?

No idea about the digital buttons...