How do the sizes of the various proposed manned capsules differ?

Question

How do the overall dimensions, internal volume, mass of the various manned capsules being developed compare?

Apollo (as a good baseline)
Orion
Dragon
Dragon V2
CST-100
Soyuz

For bonus points, ISS cargo vehicles.

Cygnus
ATV
HTV
Progress

Minor nitpick: Dragon (v1) isn't a manned capsule. Only Dragon v2 will be. — Nate Barbettini, Feb 05 '15 at 01:41
@EugenioArpayoglou it wasn't a capsule. Only rocket bits that go on the top of stages and can take people count. — kim holder, Jun 08 '16 at 14:41
@NateBarbettini: Dragon was originally planned to gain the ability to carry a crew. SpaceX even built a full-scale mockup. https://twitter.com/spacex/status/232146433833320449 — rspeed, Oct 23 '18 at 23:49

geoffc · Answer 1 · 2015-02-05T03:01:39.753

32

Found a couple of good photos of at least three of the vehicles side by side.

CST-100 - Orion - Dragon

Graphic of Apollo - Orion - CST-100 - Dragon

Apollo - Orion - CST-100 - Dragon

A great picture from User3, who found it on reddit, showing the various vehicles all side by side to scale.

Side by side of manned vehicles

Another good one, doing a better job of showing manned vs reentry vs service modules parts.

enter image description here

Great summary of the various vehicles with sizes and internal volumes:

Not to forget the Indian Orbital Vehicle, here it is laid out next to some other vehicles.

From Astronautix.com

Then for the granddaddy of them all, how much of the shuttle is really crew space. (Really just a portion of the nose)>

That shows the relative sizes of Progress, Soyuz, ATV, and HTV at the bottom, overlain on a space shuttle.

This great Space.com infographic includes Dragon, Progress, Shenzou, ATV, and Orion: enter image description here

edited Feb 05 '15 at 03:01

answered Feb 03 '15 at 18:55

geoffc

One could add the Indian Orbital Vehicle which was test landed empty Dec.18,2014 Link2 It's 2.0 m diameter (if correct) is smaller than the crowded Soyuz' 2.2 m. – LocalFluff Feb 04 '15 at 08:04
And maybe an illustration of the size of the crew cabin of the space shuttle. – LocalFluff Feb 04 '15 at 08:13
"how much of the shuttle is really crew space" Wow, I had no clue it was so tiny as crew space goes. – ceejayoz Feb 04 '15 at 19:49
Shuttle was quite spacious -- especially when you added SpaceLab. – Erik Feb 04 '15 at 21:35

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 03 '15 at 21:31

13

Here's one more comparison of relative sizes of manned vehicles. https://i.stack.imgur.com/3ad7C.jpg

enter image description here

answered Feb 03 '15 at 21:31

user3.14159265359

Oooh! I like that one! Mind if I steal and merge it into my answer? I like how the manned component is drawn on the line, so you get a simple view of how big each trunk/service module is as well. (Shuttle notwithstanding). – geoffc Feb 03 '15 at 22:30
Had not realized how small Dream Chaser was compared to the Shuttle. – geoffc Feb 04 '15 at 01:24
Please do. I merely found this on the space subreddit this morning, and the clever person behind the picture is http://www.reddit.com/user/Tanchistu . Yeah, the Shuttle is pretty darn big. – user3.14159265359 Feb 04 '15 at 02:07
It needs a second line in some cases. For example, Mercury's graphic includes the LAS. Voskhod's shows the airlock. Dream Chaser isn't all habitable. Nice start though. – Erik Feb 04 '15 at 03:57
@Erik I think Dream Chaser is ok, this is not about habitably but the bits that come back. Good call on the rest. – DigitalDesignDj Jul 11 '17 at 22:03

2 Answers2