The Amazing View from the International Space Station's Brand New Window

wonder why they couldn't make it entirely out of glass.

Chris

not the grand bay window i was thinking of but then again im not looking through it in person

Yes, why not a clear acrylic bubble, like on a submersible? A flat window does have better optical properties though, like those on bombardier windows on the noses of some WWII aircraft. I also don't think armored-type glass can easily be curved. But with one's face right by the window, the view is awesome enough, I can imagine.

Looking at this is liking looking through the view port of a TIE fighter or more accurately the quad cannon port on the Millenium Falcon; which is probably where the inspiration for this design came from. Also, it helps to not have a huge glass dome of glass separating a person from nothing especially in the event of a micrometeor storm or imminent debris collision with that section of the station. I believe the view port is small enough in its individual sections that a person would not effectively be sucked into space if such a thing were to happen.

"Welcome! to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack!!!"

Unlike a submersible, in space, you need to keep the pressure in, the air from being sucked, or is that explosively expanding, into the vaccuum of space. If possible, the cost to create a large window that could withstand the stresses of launch and keeping air within the ISS would be highly prohibitive. Note that all of the view ports on the ISS, the Shuttle and even Burt Ratan's Spaceship One and Spaceship Two are rather small.
Also for safety each window in the cupola has a thick protective shutter or hatch that can cover them for further protection.