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Submarine windows are designed to withstand extreme pressure differentials, and at least on private submarines, those are generally made of thick acrylic. I want to say space vehicles like Crew Dragon and New Shepard would use acrylic also for their windows---maybe treated with special coatings, but still primarily acrylic in their bulk. Can someone say confidently if this is true? What else could those windows be made of?

DrSheldon
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  • Got a source on the use of acrylic for submarine windows? Acrylic is prone to shattering and forming large shards, is less shock resistant than alternatives, is sensitive to many solvents, and is rather flammable. Polycarbonate would seem to be a more suitable material. – Christopher James Huff May 10 '21 at 20:05
  • Triton Subs uses acrylic domes in most of their submarines. The exception is the titanium dome they used to break the world record for deepest dive in the Mariana trenches, and even there it's not clear if they used it for windows (I just don't know). https://tritonsubs.com/subs/ultradeep/ –  May 10 '21 at 20:15
  • These are very thick, thoroughly tested acrylic domes, BTW. But submarine pressure differentials must far far exceed spacecraft pressure differentials. So I imagine if windows are acrylic, they wouldn't have to be anywhere near as thick as submarine windows. –  May 10 '21 at 20:29
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    ISS and shuttle used glass (fused quartz/aluminum silicate/borosilicate). https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/sts_coord.html#windows – BowlOfRed May 10 '21 at 21:05
  • Related: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/3830/what-materials-are-the-windows-on-the-us-segment-of-the-iss-made-out-of – BowlOfRed May 10 '21 at 21:06
  • Ah, yeah, you'd probably want ceramics because of reentry! No way would acrylic survive that. High temp is a domain for ceramics, not for plastics. –  May 10 '21 at 21:34
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    Per following Shuttle's windows were made of Aluminum silicate glass and fused silica glass. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/webcasts/shuttle/sts113/processing-qa.html – Ohsin May 11 '21 at 00:11
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    Even though this question was about UV protection by windows, the answers there also describe window materials, and include links to sources. – DrSheldon May 11 '21 at 02:05
  • Several Q&A here already confirm that spacecraft windows are generally made from one or more layers of glass of various formulations, so there's a good chance someone will start voting to close as duplicate. However, if you rephrased this to ask something like "Have spacecraft windows ever been made from materials other than glass; acrylic or otherwise?" you will get some great answers! You could also ask separately "What are the most arguments against making my spacecraft windows out of glass?" – uhoh May 11 '21 at 08:45
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    I sense a bit of a misconception here. Unlike submarines, (manned) spacecraft aren't typically subject to extreme pressure differentials. A space station with 100 kPa inside and zero outside is subject to just 100 kPa of pressure, equivalent to 10 meters of water column. – TooTea May 11 '21 at 12:14

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