{"id":19304,"date":"2016-07-29T00:58:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T16:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/snc-says-its-dream-chaser-prototype-space-glider-is-ready-for-flight-tests\/"},"modified":"2016-07-29T00:58:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T16:58:00","slug":"snc-says-its-dream-chaser-prototype-space-glider-is-ready-for-flight-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/snc-says-its-dream-chaser-prototype-space-glider-is-ready-for-flight-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"SNC says its Dream Chaser prototype space glider is ready for flight tests"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_264048\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-264048\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-264048\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160728-dream-chaser-snc-630x282.jpg\" alt=\"SNC Dream Chaser\" width=\"630\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160728-dream-chaser-snc-630x282.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160728-dream-chaser-snc-768x344.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160728-dream-chaser-snc-1240x556.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160728-dream-chaser-snc.jpg 1243w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-264048\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s Dream Chaser flight test vehicle is ready to go at the company\u2019s Colorado spacecraft assembly facility. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sierra Nevada Corp. says its full-scale Dream Chaser test vehicle is at last ready to be sent to a NASA center in California, for a fresh round of checkouts that will culminate in a series of flights over the Mojave Desert.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement&nbsp;comes three years after the uncrewed Dream Chaser prototype made its first free flight at California\u2019s Edwards Air Force Base. A spaceworthy version of the shuttle-like winged craft is destined to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as soon as 2019, and eventually SNC wants to have it carry people as well.<\/p>\n<p>Since the flight test in 2013, the prototype has been upgraded at SNC\u2019s assembly facility in Colorado. Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC\u2019s Space Systems business area, said the vehicle would be shipped westward by truck. It\u2019s due to arrive at NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center, near Edwards, by September.<\/p>\n<p>The start of Phase 2 testing will represent&nbsp;a milestone for the 12-year-old&nbsp;Dream Chaser program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom my aviation background, it\u2019s a little more than a rollout,\u201d Sirangelo told GeekWire. \u201cIt\u2019s a vehicle that\u2019s actually ready to fly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SNC's Dream Chaser\u00ae Cargo System: A Transportation System to Deliver Cargo to the ISS for NASA\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eHvBUqfWDRs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The full-featured Dream Chaser is designed to be launched into orbit in a folded-up configuration atop a booster&nbsp;rocket. After unfolding its wings, it would hook up with the space station to deliver cargo, and glide back down to a runway landing at the end of its mission. It looks like the space shuttle, but with a wingspan of 23 feet rather than the shuttle\u2019s 78 feet.<\/p>\n<p>This prototype isn\u2019t capable of flying into space. Rather, it\u2019s an atmospheric test vehicle, analogous to the 1970s-era&nbsp;Enterprise in NASA\u2019s space shuttle test program. The glider will be put through a series of ground tests in California, then captive-carry flights, and eventually tests that will involve dropping the craft from a carrier aircraft in&nbsp;midflight.<\/p>\n<p>The Phase 2 testing follows through on SNC\u2019s requirements under a NASA Space Act agreement associated with the space agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program, or CCP. While those tests proceed, the cargo-carrying, spaceworthy version of the Dream Chaser will be developed for a different program, known as Commercial Resupply Services 2 or CRS-2.<\/p>\n<p>Sirangelo said the atmospheric tests in California will provide data about the Dream Chaser\u2019s aerodynamics as well as the performance of its flight software and control system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese tests are significant for us in multiple ways, building on our previous flight test, completing a significant milestone under our CCP agreement, as well as gathering crucial data that will help complete the design of the vehicle being built for our CRS-2 contract,\u201d he said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>The first two milestones in the CRS-2 contract, which have to do with determining the craft\u2019s design criteria, already have been completed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s Dream Chaser flight test vehicle is ready to go at the company\u2019s Colorado spacecraft assembly facility. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.) Sierra Nevada Corp. says its full-scale Dream Chaser test vehicle is at last ready to be sent to a NASA center in California, for a fresh round of checkouts that will culminate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,970,4703],"class_list":["post-19304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-dream-chaser","tag-sierra-nevada-corp"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}