---
title: "Beautiful Video Shows Dragon Capsule Making Final Approach to Space Station"
description: "SpaceX has released a stunning new video of its Crew Dragon spacecraft firing its thrusters to dock with the International Space Station.,"
date: "2022-04-28"
modified: "2022-04-28"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/video-dragon-capsule-final-approach"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "crew dragon"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Beautiful Video Shows Dragon Capsule Making Final Approach to Space Station

![SpaceX has released a stunning new video of its Crew Dragon spacecraft firing its thrusters to dock with the International Space Station.,](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/video-dragon-capsule-final-approach.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Close Encounters

SpaceX has released a stunning new video of its Crew Dragon spacecraft firing its thrusters to dock with the International Space Station — and it looks like something straight out of the classic Steven Spielberg epic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

The resplendent clip shows a number of the spacecraft's 16 Draco thrusters firing to adjust the capsule's attitude. The capsule was delivering a crew of four astronauts to the station as part of its [Crew-4 mission](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-nasa-astronauts-launch-date>) late on Wednesday. It's the space company's fourth operational crew rotation mission to the space station, and the sixth crewed mission into orbit overall.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1519500388738682880

## Fully Autonomous

The spacecraft's onboard computer systems allow it to rendezvous with the station [fully autonomously](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/spacex-operations/>), while touchscreens in the cabin display realtime information.

Despite the six successful crewed mission into Earth's orbit, SpaceX announced that it [won't build any more Crew Dragon spacecraft](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-no-more-crew-dragon>) last month. The goal is to refurbish existing spacecraft with newly manufactured parts.

Of course, SpaceX is now eyeing the capsule's much bigger and potentially revolutionary successor: [Starship](<https://futurism.com/category/starship>).

Watching a 165-foot stainless steel spacecraft travel to destinations both orbital and interplanetary will — if they ever pull it off — likely be an even more spectacular sight to behold.

**More on Crew Dragon:** *[NASA Deciding Whether Russian Cosmonaut Is Allowed on SpaceX Launch](<https://futurism.com/nasa-deciding-cosmonaut-spacex-launch>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)