Dream Chaser engineering vehicle completes tow tests
Capitalism in space: Sierra Nevada’s engineering test vehicle for testing its Dream Chaser design has completed tow tests at Edward Air Force Base in California and is now being prepared for flight tests.
Posted on the back roads of Montana during our drive from Glacier to Capital Reef.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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Capitalism in space: Sierra Nevada’s engineering test vehicle for testing its Dream Chaser design has completed tow tests at Edward Air Force Base in California and is now being prepared for flight tests.
Posted on the back roads of Montana during our drive from Glacier to Capital Reef.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I am impressed, the Dream Chaser can do what any U-Haul trailer can do. How long have they been working on this thing?
They’re picking up the pace. Now they are seeing if it can be carried as cargo. https://www.facebook.com/NASA/?hc_ref=ARS0QekFoC_UCXrveKA39POA3Sg4H0hW5qw5ig_ZXQTMA8hyU3BdGmBU0jB9vDEFlhA&fref=nf
SCooper asked: “How long have they been working on this thing?”
Dream Chaser has a long history, dating back to 2004. It was proposed for the first Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program (COTS) but not chosen for development for flight under the Commercial Resupply Services program (CRS).
Sierra Nevada began work on a manned version of Dream Chaser as a proposal for the manned version of COTS, Commercial Crew Development (CCDev), in 2010. It was chosen for some development work during the competition, and that was when an aerodynamic version was constructed to show that it could land on a runway. However, Dream Chaser was again not chosen for space operations.
Because CRS was successful, when the ISS lifespan was increased to the year 2024 Sierra Nevada again applied for Dream Chaser in the extension version of CRS, CRS-2, in 2014. The contracts were awarded at the beginning of last year. Unlike the manned version, the current cargo version of Dream Chaser has folding wings in order for the craft to fit within the Atlas V fairing.
Sierra Nevada has spent the past 1-1/2 year (or maybe three years) developing, designing, and building this folding-wing version. Now that they have one to test, verification that it is ready for spaceflight should proceed fairly quickly. If all goes well, then Dream Chaser could be ready for spaceflight and cargo runs in 2019.
Another advantage of having three commercial cargo craft is that commercial space stations (e.g. Bigelow, Ixion, and Axiom) will have plenty of competing cargo companies to keep supplies coming at affordable prices.
If Dream Chaser is successful, I expect Sierra Nevada to finish development of the manned version, giving commercial space stations a third competing company in that realm, too.
When it comes to commercial space exploration and development, I expect the 2020s to be known as the “roaring twenties.” It should be almost as exciting as the 1960s were for space exploration.