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With NASA refocused on Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) exploration goals, the keys to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) have been handed over to the commercial sector \u2013 with the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts already resulting in two cargo official CRS resupply missions via SpaceX\u2019s Dragon to the ISS.<\/p>\n
Orbital \u2013 via their Cygnus spacecraft \u2013 are set to follow, with a debut COTS run to the ISS likely in September,following the successful test flight of the Antares launch vehicle.<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle models
<\/path>Spaceflight <\/path>Space Shuttle <\/path>\n (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n
![\"Dream](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Z412.jpg\" "\\"Dream")
Unfortunately \u2013 and through no fault of the commercial partners \u2013 there is a large amount of pressure on the funding outlook for NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program, with the first flight of NASA astronauts to the ISS on a commercial spacecraft continually slipping as a result.<\/p>\nThe latest slip pushed the US Crew Vehicle -1 (USCV-1) mission to a planning date of November 30, 2017.<\/p>\n
Regardless, the commercial partners are pressing on through their CCiCAP milestones, with SNC no exception as they move towards the major milestone of drop tests via their Dream Chaser ETA.<\/p>\n
![\"Dream](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/F43.jpg\" "\\"Dream")
The ETA has already flown, via the Captive Carry test near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan airport, lofted on the end of a tether by a Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter back in May of last year.<\/p>\nFollowing that milestone, the ETA underwent preparations for its shipping to California.<\/p>\n
However, L2 sources noted the trip was delayed after SNC decided to remove the vehicle\u2019s seven Actuator Control Units (ACU) that are responsible for moving the flight surfaces. SNC did not immediately respond to questions from NASASpaceFlight.com to clarify the problem with the ACUs.<\/p>\n
![\"Dream](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Z131.jpg\" "\\"Dream")
The issue has since been resolved to the point SNC are able to carry out the May shipping to Dryden. The ETA kitted out with all the required data gathering equipment that will provide vital information during the drop tests.<\/p>\nAhead of the road trip to Dryden, the ETA saw her wings and rudder removed, before being shrink-wrapped \u2013 not unlike how Atlantis was protected during the construction of her exhibition \u2013 ahead of being placed on a transportation frame for the truck ride.<\/p>\n
Dryden preparations will include final work on installing her new ACUs, along with a series of tow, control, and brake tests on the runway.<\/p>\n
Click here for recent SNC\/Dream Chaser News Articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/snc\/<\/p>\n
Depending on how the testing proceeds, the first drop test could be as soon as early June \u2013 but more likely to be sometime later in the summer. The drop will be via a helicopter, and carried out early in the morning, in near darkness, before the Californian weather becomes too warm to fly the helicopter at the altitudes required for the testing.<\/p>\n
![\"Dream](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Z45.jpg\" "\\"Dream")
It is also understood, via L2 source information, the first two Dream Chasers \u2013 the ETA and the FTA (Flight Test Article) \u2013 have been given internal and external names.<\/p>\nSNC did not immediately respond to NASASpaceFlight.com on the naming of their ships, but it is understood the ETA may receive the public name of \u201cEagle\u201d, pending the official approval of management.<\/p>\n
Dream Chaser arrives in California after recently completing its first major, comprehensive safety review.<\/p>\n
![\"Atlas](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Z93.jpg\" "\\"Atlas")
The Integrated Systems Safety Analysis Review provided NASA with hazard reports and safety and reliability plans for the major components of the company\u2019s integrated crew transportation system, including the Dream Chaser spacecraft, United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, and flight and ground systems.<\/p>\n\u201cDream Chaser is making substantial progress toward flight with the help of our NASA team,\u201d said Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC\u2019s Space Systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability to openly exchange information through the work on these CCiCap milestones is invaluable for many reasons, such as communicating Dream Chaser development plans and receiving timely feedback from NASA, all of which help to improve our design and maximize safety and reliability.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we begin our flight test program we have a better and stronger program due to our partnership with NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Images via SNC, L2 and Lee Jay Fingersh\/NASASpaceflight.com)<\/p>\n
(With the shuttle fleet retired, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and Commercial Cargo\/Crew, to European and Russian vehicles.<\/p>\n
(Click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/ \u2013 to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet and directly support NSF\u2019s running costs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have shipped their Dream Chaser ETA (Engineering Test Article) to the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The vehicle will be prepared for a series of drop tests, a key Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) milestone. Dream Chaser\u2019s road trip to California: SNC are one of the three companies who won […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30314,"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":[7796,970,9092,8894],"class_list":["post-39854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial","tag-dream-chaser","tag-dryden","tag-snc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39854"}],"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=39854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}