Elon Musk's SpaceX venture revealed a toughened-glass viewing dome for one of its space vessels, the Crew Dragon, on Wednesday.
The new design feature will allow space voyagers to have a panoramic view, if an image released by the company is accurate.
It shows a photographer casually taking pictures from the viewing bubble.
What seems like science fiction is now one step closer to reality, at least for those brave enough to view the cosmos with nothing but toughened glass separating them from certain death.
On Tuesday, a college science professor and an aerospace data analyst were named to round out a four-member crew for a SpaceX launch into orbit planned for this year.
It is billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history.
The two latest citizen astronauts were introduced at a news briefing live-streamed from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida by SpaceX human spaceflight chief Benjamin Reed and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who conceived the mission in part as a charity drive.
Mr Isaacman, founder and chief executive of e-commerce company Shift4 Payments, will pay an unspecified but presumably exorbitant sum to fellow billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to fly himself and three others into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The flight, scheduled for no earlier than September 15, is expected to last three to four days from launch to splashdown.
"When this mission is complete, people are going to look at it and say this was the first time that everyday people could go to space," Mr Isaacman, 38, told reporters.
The mission, Inspiration4, is designed primarily to raise awareness and support for one of Mr Isaacman's favourite causes, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, a leading paediatric cancer centre. He has pledged $100 million personally to the institute.
Assuming the role of mission commander, Mr Isaacman in February designated St Jude physician's assistant Haley Arceneaux, 29, a bone cancer survivor and one-time patient at the Tennessee hospital, as his first crewmate.
Announced on Tuesday, Chris Sembroski, 41, a Seattle-area aerospace industry employee and US Air Force veteran, was selected through a sweepstakes that drew 72,000 applicants and raised $113 million in St Jude donations.
Sian Proctor, 51, a geoscience professor at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, and entrepreneur who was once a Nasa astronaut candidate, was chosen separately through an online business contest run by Shift4 Payments.
All four will undergo extensive training modelled after the curriculum Nasa astronauts use to prepare for SpaceX missions.
The Inspiration4 mission may mark a new era in space flight, but it is not the only all-civilian crewed rocket launch in the works.
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Nasa astronaut Victor Glover gives the thumbs up as he helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Panama City, Florida, US. EPA -
Nasa astronaut Mike Hopkins is assisted out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship. AP Photo -
Nasa astronaut Shannon Walker emerges from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship. AP Photo -
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi gives a wave as he is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. AP Photo -
In this image from Nasa TV footage, Mike Hopkins is carried from the SpaceX Dragon capsule. After medical checks, the four astronauts were due to be reunited with their families. AP Photo -
The recovery team open the hatch of the SpaceX's Crew Dragon, following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. AFP -
The 167-day mission was the longest for astronauts launching from the US. AFP -
A support team work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule shortly after it splashed down. AP Photo -
A support team winches up the SpaceX Dragon capsule from the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo -
The return of the SpaceX Dragon capsule had been postponed twice due to high winds. AP Photo -
A screen grab from the Nasa live feed shows the SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule with parachutes open, as it returns to Earth. AFP -
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just before splashdown. AFP -
The SpaceX Dragon capsule splashes down into the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo -
This image from video provided by Nasa shows the SpaceX capsule as it departs the International Space Station on its journey back to Earth. AP Photo -
This Nasa TV frame grab image shows astronaut Shannon Walker of Nasa handing over International Space Station command to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akihiko Hoshide, as the the rest of the crew look on. AFP -
Nasa and SpaceX support teams board a helicopter at Pensacola, Florida, to head to a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo -
This photo combination provided by Nasa shows from left, Expedition 64 Flight Engineers and SpaceX Crew-1 members Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. AP Photo -
European Space Agency French astronaut Thomas Pesquet waves from the International Space Station at the end of a question and answer session with media representatives in Paris. AFP -
Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, right, is docked to the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP -
Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP -
Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP -
the SpaceX Dragon capsule approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP -
Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP -
Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station with Earth visible in the distance. Nasa TV / AFP -
Astronauts Mike Hopkins, left, and Victor Glover monitor controls aboard SpaceX Dragon as the capsule approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP -
Crowds on the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon on its Crew-1 mission carrying four astronauts. Florida Today via AP -
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters -
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters -
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft, is launched for NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission, to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. EPA -
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters -
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft prepares to launch. EPA -
This SpaceX video grab shows Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 members waiting for second Stage separation, (from left) Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi, after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. AFP -
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi gestures as the crew of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket departs for the launch pad for the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. Reuters -
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, wearing a SpaceX spacesuit, preparing to depart the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building with his fellow crewmates. AFP -
Crew members of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket commander Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, gesture as they depart for the launch pad for the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters -
A full-size model of the Crew-1 spacecraft module sits near the launch pad as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen at launch complex 39A in the distance at the Kennedy Space Cente in Florida. AFP
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic enterprise is developing a spaceplane to carry paying customers on suborbital excursions.
SpaceX plans a separate launch, possibly next year, of a retired Nasa astronaut, a former Israeli fighter pilot and two other people in conjunction with Houston-based private space flight company Axiom Space.
Mr Musk also intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the Moon in 2023. Fees charged for those flights will help to finance the development of Mr Musk's new, heavy-lift Starship rocket for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Inspiration4 is about more than a billionaire's joyride through space, organisers said, promising that the crew will conduct a number of science experiments during its brief voyage.
