Contract brings Dream Chaser flights closer to reality

Monday, July 24, 2017

Contract brings Dream Chaser flights closer to reality

Contract brings Dream Chaser flights closer to reality:

Image Credit: SNC

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In development for more than ten years, the Dream Chaser space plane is one step closer to flight. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has signed a contract with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to send the spacecraft to orbit.

“ULA is pleased to partner with Sierra Nevada Corporation to launch its Dream Chaser cargo system to the International Space Station in less than three years,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Human and Commercial Systems via a release issued by ULA. “We recognize the importance of on time and reliable transportation of crew and cargo to Station and are honored the Atlas V was selected to continue to launch cargo resupply missions for NASA.”

The contract calls for two Atlas V 552 flights that will boost the Dream Chaser to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Sierra Nevada’s Cargo Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract with NASA.

The Dream Chaser is currently in testing at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center near Edwards Air Force Base in California. The craft underwent its first ground tow to verify how the vehicle would behave during taxi operations upon returning from space. Additional tests at Armstrong are planned including glide flights dropped from a helicopter. According to SNC the software on the test vehicle is the operational version that will be used for the orbital vehicles.

The first Atlas V flight of Dream Chaser is currently slated to occur in 2020, launching from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Florida. The flight will use an Atlas 552 with a dual engine Centaur upper stage. The second flight is scheduled for 2021. The Atlas V was chosen as the launch vehicle in part for its Category 3 certification from NASA (the designation identifies that it may be used for NASA’s most complex and critical missions).

“SNC recognizes the proven reliability of the Atlas V rocket and its availability and schedule performance makes it the right choice for the first two flights of the Dream Chaser,” said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC’s Space Systems. “ULA is an important player in the market and we appreciate their history and continued contributions to space flights and are pleased to support the aerospace community in Colorado and Alabama,” added Sirangelo.

The Dream Chaser was originally part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program but was not selected during the Commercial Crew transportation Capability (CCtCap) phase of the program. Those missions were instead awarded to SpaceX for their Crewed Dragon and Boeing for their CST-100 Starliner capsule.

Dream Chaser is a lifting body design that returns via a runway instead of the more traditional parachute landings of SpaceX and Boeing. The cargo version of the Dream Chaser is designed to carry both pressurized and unpressurized cargo to and from the ISS with return and disposal services.

The post Contract brings Dream Chaser flights closer to reality appeared first on SpaceFlight Insider.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.

UFO SIGHTINGS PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a UFO as "An unidentified flying object; a 'flying saucer'." The first published book to use the word was authored by Donald E. Keyhoe. The acronym "UFO" was coined by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed Project Blue Book, then the USAF's official investigation of UFOs. He wrote, "Obviously the term 'flying saucer' is misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced Yoo-foe) for short." Other phrases that were used officially and that predate the UFO acronym include "flying flapjack", "flying disc", "unexplained flying discs", "unidentifiable object", and "flying saucer". The phrase "flying saucer" had gained widespread attention after the summer of 1947. On June 24, a civilian pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier. Arnold timed the sighting and estimated the speed of discs to be over 1,200 mph (1,931 km/h). At the time, he described the objects' shape as being somewhat disc-like or saucer-like, leading to newspaper accounts of "flying saucers" and "flying discs". In popular usage the term UFO came to be used to refer to claims of alien spacecraft. and because of the public and media ridicule associated with the topic, some investigators prefer to use such terms as unidentified aerial phenomenon (or UAP) or anomalous phenomena, as in the title of the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP).

UFO PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

UFO - Unidentified Flying Object An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky that is not identifiable as a known object or phenomenon. Culturally, UFOs are associated with claims of visitation by extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and have become popular subjects in fiction. While UFOs are often later identified, sometimes identification may not be possible owing to the usually low quality of evidence related to UFO sightings (generally anecdotal evidence and eyewitness accounts). Stories of fantastical celestial apparitions have been told since antiquity, but the term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects" (see Air Force Regulation 200-2). During the late 1940s and through the 1950s, UFOs were often referred to popularly as "flying saucers" or "flying discs". The term UFO became more widespread during the 1950s, at first in technical literature, but later in popular use. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security. Various studies have concluded that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific pursuit (e.g., 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, 1953 CIA Robertson Panel, USAF Project Blue Book, Condon Committee).

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Monday, July 24, 2017