Chasing the dream of human spaceflight

www.bbc.co.uk...

hope it's true one step closer to the star's

Chasing the dream of human spaceflight
Form follows function, they say. And if a machine works like a dream, perhaps it ought to look like one as well. Right?


The Dream Chaser could be in orbit by 2014
I have no data to support this hypothesis but it seems to hold, from iPhones to Ferraris. I'm sure you can find examples to the contrary. But consider Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) proposed Dream Chaser vehicle. It looks like a spacecraft ought to look.

This is one of the key US commercial human spaceflight projects now in development. The Dream Chaser already has quite a bit of heritage.

The design calls on a concept initially studied by Nasa about 20 years ago called the HL-20. SNC's vehicle would launch vertically atop a rocket like the Atlas 5. It would carry a crew of seven.

Missions might include crew rotation and cargo re-supply at the International Space Station, but there would be other destinations and duties for an adaptable vehicle like this as well.
Sierra Nevada Corporation was given the biggest award ($20m) last February in Nasa's "seed fund" programme to develop a private crewship capability

reply to post by audio assasin


Explanation: S&F!

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reply to post by audio assasin


Closer to the star's what?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

First I've heard of this one. I like that it's adaptable to different launchers. Sadly, I've seen so many of these proposals, over the years, that I'll believe it when I see it.

The Dream Chaser shape is based on NASA Langley Research Center's HL-20/HL-42 configuration which, in turn, was based on the Soviet BOR-4 subscale space plane technology demonstrator. The BOR program was initiated in 1973 to investigate hypersonic aerodynamic characteristics and heat shield materials for the proposed manned Spiral OS lifting body. After cancellation of Spiral in favor of the Buran space shuttle, several BOR-4 subscale spaceplanes were used to test heat shield materials developed for Buran. Four flights of BOR-4 vehicles took place between June 1982 and December 1984. After circling the earth, the spacecraft performed a gliding re-entry, followed by parachute recovery in the ocean. In 1989, engineers at NASA Langley began studying the BOR-4 shape as the basis for a Personnel Launch System to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Dream Chaser is IMHO the most interesting concept of those supported by NASA commercial money. Compared to SpaceX Dragon, it should be able to launch from multiple rockets, and land on a runway like a plane. And on top of that, it looks cool as hell.

S&F OP!