05.15.13
Image
above: Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems' Dream Chaser
engineering test article is prepared for shipment at the company's
facility in Louisville, Colo. Image credit: SNC › View Larger ImageSierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser flight vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway landing systems.
The tests are part of pre-negotiated, paid-for-performance milestones
with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is facilitating
U.S.-led companies' development of spacecraft and rockets that can
launch from American soil. The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe,
reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the
International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Tests at Dryden will include tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests of
the Dream Chaser. A truck will tow the craft down a runway to validate
performance of the nose strut, brakes and tires. The captive-carry
flights will further examine the loads it will encounter during flight
as it is carried by an Erickson Skycrane helicopter. The free flight
later this year will test Dream Chaser's aerodynamics through landing.
Meanwhile, on the east coast, several NASA astronauts will be at the
agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., this week to fly
simulations of a Dream Chaser approach and landing to help evaluate the
spacecraft's subsonic handling. The test will measure how well the
spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions
and assess its guidance and navigation performance.
"Unique public-private partnerships like the one between NASA and Sierra
Nevada Corporation are creating an industry capable of building the
next generation of rockets and spacecraft that will carry U.S.
astronauts to the scientific proving ground of low-Earth orbit," said
William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human
exploration and operations in Washington. "NASA centers around the
country paved the way for 50 years of American human spaceflight, and
they're actively working with our partners to test innovative commercial
space systems that will continue to ensure American leadership in
exploration and discovery."
The Dream Chaser Space System is based on Langley's Horizontal Lander
HL-20 lifting body design concept. The design builds on years of
analysis and wind tunnel testing by Langley engineers during the 1980s
and 1990s. Langley and SNC joined forces six years ago to update the
HL-20 design in the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle. In those years,
SNC worked with the center to refine the spacecraft design. SNC will
continue to test models in Langley wind tunnels. Langley researchers
also helped develop a cockpit simulator at SNC's facility in Louisville,
Colo., and the flight simulations being assessed at the center.
NASA is partnered with SNC, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and
The Boeing Company to meet CCP milestones for integrated crew
transportation systems under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability
(CCiCap) initiative. Advances made by these companies under their funded
Space Act Agreements ultimately are intended to lead to the
availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and
commercial companies.
While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial
spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion
spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and
heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human
exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew
and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond
low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar
system.
For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:
Image above: With its wings and tail structure removed and shrouded in plastic wrap, SNC's Dream Chaser test flight craft is ready to depart Louisville, Colo., atop a flatbed truck and trailer. Image credit: SNC
› View Larger Image
Image
above: SNC's Dream Chaser test flight craft is hauled across the bed of
Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to NASA's Dryden
Flight Research Center on May 15. Image credit: NASA/Tom Tschida› View Larger Image
Image
above: NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center welcomes SNC's Dream Chaser
engineering test article for a flight test program in collaboration
with NASA's Commercial Crew Program this summer. Image credit: NASA/Tom
Tschida› View Larger Image
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
Candrea Thomas
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center
Candrea.K.Thomas@nasa.gov
Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser Testing Begins at NASA Dryden, Langley
EDWARDS,
Calif. -- Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser
flight vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in
Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway
landing systems.
The tests are part of pre-negotiated, paid-for-performance milestones with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is facilitating U.S.-led companies' development of spacecraft and rockets that can launch from American soil. The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Tests at Dryden will include tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests of the Dream Chaser. A truck will tow the craft down a runway to validate performance of the nose strut, brakes and tires. The captive-carry flights will further examine the loads it will encounter during flight as it is carried by an Erickson Skycrane helicopter. The free flight later this year will test Dream Chaser's aerodynamics through landing.
Meanwhile, on the east coast, several NASA astronauts will be at the agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., this week to fly simulations of a Dream Chaser approach and landing to help evaluate the spacecraft's subsonic handling. The test will measure how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions and assess its guidance and navigation performance.
"Unique public-private partnerships like the one between NASA and Sierra Nevada Corporation are creating an industry capable of building the next generation of rockets and spacecraft that will carry U.S. astronauts to the scientific proving ground of low-Earth orbit," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations in Washington. "NASA centers around the country paved the way for 50 years of American human spaceflight, and they're actively working with our partners to test innovative commercial space systems that will continue to ensure American leadership in exploration and discovery."
The Dream Chaser Space System is based on Langley's Horizontal Lander HL-20 lifting body design concept. The design builds on years of analysis and wind tunnel testing by Langley engineers during the 1980s and 1990s. Langley and SNC joined forces six years ago to update the HL-20 design in the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle. In those years SNC has worked with the center to refine the spacecraft design. SNC will continue to test models in Langley wind tunnels. Langley researchers also helped develop a cockpit simulator at SNC's facility in Louisville, Colo., and the flight simulations being assessed at the center.
NASA is partnered with SNC, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and The Boeing Company to meet CCP milestones for integrated crew transportation systems under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. Advances made by these companies under their funded Space Act Agreements ultimately are intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial companies.
While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar system.
For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:
The tests are part of pre-negotiated, paid-for-performance milestones with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is facilitating U.S.-led companies' development of spacecraft and rockets that can launch from American soil. The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Tests at Dryden will include tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests of the Dream Chaser. A truck will tow the craft down a runway to validate performance of the nose strut, brakes and tires. The captive-carry flights will further examine the loads it will encounter during flight as it is carried by an Erickson Skycrane helicopter. The free flight later this year will test Dream Chaser's aerodynamics through landing.
Meanwhile, on the east coast, several NASA astronauts will be at the agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., this week to fly simulations of a Dream Chaser approach and landing to help evaluate the spacecraft's subsonic handling. The test will measure how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions and assess its guidance and navigation performance.
"Unique public-private partnerships like the one between NASA and Sierra Nevada Corporation are creating an industry capable of building the next generation of rockets and spacecraft that will carry U.S. astronauts to the scientific proving ground of low-Earth orbit," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations in Washington. "NASA centers around the country paved the way for 50 years of American human spaceflight, and they're actively working with our partners to test innovative commercial space systems that will continue to ensure American leadership in exploration and discovery."
The Dream Chaser Space System is based on Langley's Horizontal Lander HL-20 lifting body design concept. The design builds on years of analysis and wind tunnel testing by Langley engineers during the 1980s and 1990s. Langley and SNC joined forces six years ago to update the HL-20 design in the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle. In those years SNC has worked with the center to refine the spacecraft design. SNC will continue to test models in Langley wind tunnels. Langley researchers also helped develop a cockpit simulator at SNC's facility in Louisville, Colo., and the flight simulations being assessed at the center.
NASA is partnered with SNC, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and The Boeing Company to meet CCP milestones for integrated crew transportation systems under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. Advances made by these companies under their funded Space Act Agreements ultimately are intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial companies.
While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar system.
For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:
For more information about Dream Chaser and Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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