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Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser Testing Begins at NASA Dryden, Langley
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baa...@earthlink.net
May 15, 2013, 6:01:33 PM5/15/13
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May 15, 2013
Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j....@nasa.gov
Krystal Scordo
Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems
720-407-3192
krystal...@sncorp.com
RELEASE: 13-143
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 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:
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
For more information about Dream Chaser and Sierra Nevada Corp. Space
Systems, visit:
http://www.SNCspace.com
-end-
Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j....@nasa.gov
Krystal Scordo
Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems
720-407-3192
krystal...@sncorp.com
RELEASE: 13-143
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 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:
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
For more information about Dream Chaser and Sierra Nevada Corp. Space
Systems, visit:
http://www.SNCspace.com
-end-
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