SPACESHIP WINDOW WINDOWS

“Transparent aluminum” and AlON are often, and mistakenly, used interchangeably in news stories, but they’re not the same thing.ĪlON also made a cameo appearance in 2015’s Jurassic World as well. It is possible to make elemental aluminum transparent with pulses of soft X-ray light…but that’s not what’s being talked about for Starship. AlON is a ceramic made with aluminum that happens to be transparent. Second – “transparent aluminum” is not AlON. AlON had been around for a little while by the point the film was being written and was starting to make waves, given its properties. In the film’s story, he gave the “recipe” for transparent aluminum to an engineer in 1986, in exchange for enough of the material to make a whale-sized tank on the Klingon Bird of Prey he and the crew were traveling on.Ī couple of things to be clear on: first, the screenwriters for the film were probably tipped off on the idea of “transparent aluminum” by checking out some (then) cutting edge materials science.

In 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Scotty knew what he needed to transport two humpback whales and water enough to float them to the 23rd century – walls made of transparent aluminum. Concept art from SpaceXįor science fiction and pop culture fans, the name – or the idea of “transparent aluminum” brings up a memory or two. SpaceX founder Elon Musk added to this March 11, Tweeting, “…ALON might be cool” in response to discussion about the window.

SPACESHIP WINDOW WINDOWS

Speculation about Starship’s windows is focusing on aluminum oxynitride (AlON – pronounced “aye-lon”), a transparent, metallic ceramic composed of aluminum (Al), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N). Panoramas of space inspire their passengers literally, like nothing on earth. All the designs and concept art for Starship to date have included windows. The imagery described above exists as concept art at Space X – an idealized image of what Starship could be like. She’s floating in zero gravity aboard SpaceX’s Starship, Elon Musk’s vision of a reusable transportation system that, according to Space X’s information, “will carry crew and cargo into Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.”īehind the violinist is something that enthralls the audience as much as the music – the curve of the earth and stars beyond seen through a 20-foot window. Her gown flows as she bows her instrument, notes reaching every ear. The violinist performs in front of a mesmerized audience.

Spaceship window