Author Topic: Sierra Space Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread (was SNC)  (Read 740591 times)

Offline BrightLight

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #840 on: 04/19/2018 03:35 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.


Offline Alpha Control

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #841 on: 04/19/2018 08:32 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.

Hi,

Why do you think the DC Cargo version is .75 the size of the Crew version? I thought they were identical in size.

I thought the .75 version was only ever talked about for potential use with Stratolaunch.
Space launches attended:
Antares/Cygnus ORB-D1 Wallops Island, VA Sept 2013 | STS-123 KSC, FL March 2008 | SpaceShipOne Mojave, CA June 2004

Offline BrightLight

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #842 on: 04/19/2018 08:34 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.

Hi,

Why do you think the DC Cargo version is .75 the size of the Crew version? I thought they were identical in size.

I thought the .75 version was only ever talked about for potential use with Stratolaunch.
The cargo version presently being funded by NASA will fit inside a shroud on the Atlas V, it is 25% smaller than the manned version.
« Last Edit: 04/19/2018 08:34 pm by BrightLight »

Offline Lars-J

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #843 on: 04/19/2018 08:36 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.

Hi,

Why do you think the DC Cargo version is .75 the size of the Crew version? I thought they were identical in size.

I thought the .75 version was only ever talked about for potential use with Stratolaunch.
The cargo version presently being funded by NASA will fit inside a shroud on the Atlas V, it is 25% smaller than the manned version.

No. It is the folding wings that makes it fit. Not a scale down.

Offline BrightLight

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #844 on: 04/19/2018 08:58 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.

Hi,

Why do you think the DC Cargo version is .75 the size of the Crew version? I thought they were identical in size.

I thought the .75 version was only ever talked about for potential use with Stratolaunch.
The cargo version presently being funded by NASA will fit inside a shroud on the Atlas V, it is 25% smaller than the manned version.

No. It is the folding wings that makes it fit. Not a scale down.
Good to know - my mistake.

Offline Rocket Science

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #845 on: 04/19/2018 09:05 pm »
From: http://spacenews.com/sierra-nevada-weighing-options-for-launching-future-dream-chaser-missions/

"SNC held the briefing in front of the Dream Chaser engineering test article that performed a glide flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California in November. That test article, developed under earlier NASA commercial crew awards, will now be placed in “flyable storage” at the company’s Colorado facilities.

Lindsey said the company will likely keep the test article in storage until the company is ready to resume development of a crewed version of Dream Chaser. “We’re going to keep it in a condition ready to fly,” he said. “We’ll modify it for flying crew, put a pilot in there and do some testing in the future.” "

Previous statements made this week indicated that 80% of the 0.75 cargo version will be compatible with the potential manned Dream Chaser - it would be wonderful in my opinion if a paying customer came forward to complete the development of a manned Dream Chaser.

Hi,

Why do you think the DC Cargo version is .75 the size of the Crew version? I thought they were identical in size.

I thought the .75 version was only ever talked about for potential use with Stratolaunch.
The cargo version presently being funded by NASA will fit inside a shroud on the Atlas V, it is 25% smaller than the manned version.

No. It is the folding wings that makes it fit. Not a scale down.
Good to know - my mistake.
Here is the Chris G. article of the version you had in mind:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/11/snc-stratolaunch-dream-chaser-flights/
« Last Edit: 04/19/2018 09:06 pm by Rocket Science »
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Offline BrightLight

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #846 on: 04/20/2018 09:12 pm »
From Aviation week April 19th, 2018

"COLORADO SPRINGS—Sierra Nevada expects to receive aeroshell panels next month for the first orbital Dream Chaser, marking a key milestone in the run-up to the start of spaceplane assembly at the company’s Louisville, Colorado"
The rest of the article is behind the Aviation Week paywall.
« Last Edit: 04/20/2018 09:12 pm by BrightLight »

Offline BrightLight

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #847 on: 04/26/2018 05:39 pm »
From: https://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/sakor-technologies-selected-to-build-test-system-for-dream-chaser-atmospheric-flight-control-system-

SNC has now contracted for a TOA to surface flight control simulator.

SAKOR Technologies, Inc., a recognized leader in the implementation of instrumentation products for dynamometer testing, announces that it has supplied a test system to Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) to be used to test the atmospheric flight control system for the Dream Chaser® spacecraft. Dream Chaser is a lifting-body, reusable, crewed or uncrewed horizontal-landing vehicle. It is owned and operated by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and is designed as a space utility vehicle for low-Earth orbit.

SwRI, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States. Contracted by SNC to design and build the atmospheric flight control system, SwRI selected SAKOR to build a sophisticated system to exercise Dream Chaser’s new control system and simulate flight from atmospheric interface to landing. The system characterizes overall design performance as well as dynamic response to physical forces typically experienced in standard and extreme flight conditions.

The Dream Chaser spacecraft features seven control surfaces and the SAKOR-designed test system features seven dynamometers, each simulating dynamic loads on a specific control surface.

SAKOR’s DynoLAB™ data acquisition and control system controls the entire test stand, acting as a space craft emulator. Sending test profiles to the atmospheric flight controller as well as simulating force feedback from each control surface, DynoLAB communicates directly with the atmospheric flight co

Offline adrianwyard

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Online catdlr

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #849 on: 04/27/2018 01:50 am »
Sierra Nevada Corporation Overview 2018
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Published on Apr 26, 2018



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Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #850 on: 04/28/2018 04:31 am »

Offline JAFO

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #851 on: 04/28/2018 06:48 am »
It looks like only one cargo DC will be made:
http://spacenews.com/nasa-will-pay-more-for-less-iss-cargo-under-new-commercial-contracts/

Probably all the capital they want to risk is tied up with the single OTA.
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Offline Rocket Science

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #852 on: 04/28/2018 07:59 am »
It looks like only one cargo DC will be made:
http://spacenews.com/nasa-will-pay-more-for-less-iss-cargo-under-new-commercial-contracts/

Probably all the capital they want to risk is tied up with the single OTA.
Perhaps factor in the current administration plans to splash ISS in 2025 instead of the expected extension the partners were believing to happening...
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
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Offline deruch

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #853 on: 04/28/2018 10:11 am »
It looks like only one cargo DC will be made:
http://spacenews.com/nasa-will-pay-more-for-less-iss-cargo-under-new-commercial-contracts/

Probably all the capital they want to risk is tied up with the single OTA.
Perhaps factor in the current administration plans to splash ISS in 2025 instead of the expected extension the partners were believing to happening...

Also, they are still looking ahead to possibly building a crewed version.  If they don't think they would be able to afford building 3 (2 cargo, 1 crew), I wouldn't be surprised to learn they had forgone the second version to still keep the crewed hope alive.
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Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #854 on: 04/28/2018 09:21 pm »
See below:

Some interesting stuff on DC:

Quote from: page 20 of the OIG report
Specifically, Sierra Nevada has committed to using Atlas V launch vehicles for its first two cargo resupply missions but the company is considering alternative launch vehicles currently under development to lower their costs for future NASA missions. Public statements from launch vehicle providers have proposed prices ranging from roughly $90 million to $120 million per launch. While the Atlas V is highly reliable with a 100 percent success rate after more than 70 launches, it has a list price of $175 million for the configuration needed for Sierra Nevada’s missions. Because Sierra Nevada’s cargo flights are procured under a fixed-price contract, any reduction in its launch costs accrue to Sierra Nevada’s benefit. However, the CRS-2 contract allows NASA to renegotiate mission pricing if a contractor uses an alternative vehicle. Any renegotiation would need to be finalized by early 2019 should Sierra Nevada plan to use an alternative launch vehicle for its third CRS-2 mission, which could occur as early as 2022. NASA’s CRS-2 contract with Orbital ATK has similar contract language to negotiate lower per-mission prices to reflect cheaper launch costs if the company uses ULA’s Vulcan launch vehicle instead of the Atlas V.

Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #855 on: 04/28/2018 09:23 pm »
See below:

More on DC:

Quote from: pages 27 and 28 of the OIG Report
Sierra Nevada’s plan to build a single Dream Chaser spacecraft for CRS-2 missions is a single point-of-failure that represents substantial technical and schedule risks for the ISS Program.[69] During a visit to Sierra Nevada in June 2017, company officials told us they had no plans to build a second Dream Chaser. In August 2017, ISS Program officials said Sierra Nevada was considering building a second Dream Chaser to be completed by 2021, but no decision had been made as of October 2017. In the event of a failure, Sierra Nevada officials told us in June 2017 that a second spacecraft could be built from spare parts without additional costs to NASA.

[69] For the first CRS-2 mission, the Dream Chaser will be required to demonstrate additional orbital maneuvers before approaching the ISS. Other cargo vehicles such as the Cygnus, European cargo spacecraft, and Japanese cargo spacecraft were allowed to berth with the ISS on their maiden flight after performing similar maneuvers.

Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #856 on: 05/15/2018 02:27 am »

Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #857 on: 05/15/2018 02:30 am »

Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #858 on: 06/03/2018 03:31 am »
Quote
Simonetta di Pippo, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs: when we issued a call for interest in flying experiments on SNC’s Dream Chaser last year, it was open only 6 weeks, but we received 150 responses from 75 countries. #DPSS18

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1003018612045688833

Offline yg1968

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Re: SNC Dream Chaser UPDATE Thread
« Reply #859 on: 06/03/2018 05:07 pm »
Quote
Simonetta di Pippo, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs: when we issued a call for interest in flying experiments on SNC’s Dream Chaser last year, it was open only 6 weeks, but we received 150 responses from 75 countries. #DPSS18

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1003018612045688833

Simonetta di Pippo's presentation is at 7h10m of this video (discussion of DC' UN mission is at 7h29m):
https://livestream.com/accounts/9198012/events/8226938/videos/175748661
« Last Edit: 06/03/2018 06:32 pm by yg1968 »

 

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