Comments by "" (@GWNorth-db8vn) on "12 Weird Facts About Stockton's Titan Viewport" video.

The more I look at that dome, the more I wish I'd kept up my calculus. That's probably the most complex piece of engineering on the whole vessel. I'm almost surprised Rush didn't just sketch something on a napkin and insist it would work. The people who made it must have known the flat back was a bad idea.
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I'm a fan of air-spaced myself. No issues with leakage or oil going cloudy with age. A corrector plate wouldn't have to be thicker than your usual window glass, and it could be easily removable for cleaning.
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@allwrathnograpes - I think it comes down to Rush's arrogance again. He seems to have come up with bright ideas and refused to be persuaded by anyone or anything that it wouldn't work. Hard data didn't do it, and experts who disagreed with him were all nervous fuddy-duddies or making personal attacks. He knew a flat window wouldn't distort the image, so he wanted a flat window.
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@Agouti - I agree, after much doodling and massive headaches. I think it would take two lenses that can be adjusted in distance from each other and the inner face of the dome. The innermost one would have to be bigger than the viewport, and you could make things look closer if you wanted. You don't need correction unless you're at the bottom. Nothing to see on the way down anyway. To make it adjustable you'd need a mechanism like a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with one knob driving three jackshafts to move each lens evenly. Yup, a stretchy membrane across the back and filled with oil would probably be simplest.
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