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SSC Demo-1

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Dream Chaser Demo-1
Scale model of the Dream Chaser Cargo System with the Shooting Star module
NamesSSC Demo-1
Mission typeFlight test,ISS resupply
OperatorSierra Nevada
Websitesierraspace.com/dream-chaser-spaceplane
Mission duration82 days (planned)[1]
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftDream ChaserTenacity
Spacecraft typeDream Chaser
Manufacturer
Start of mission
Launch date2025 (planned)[2]
RocketVulcan CentaurVC4L[a][3]
Launch siteCape Canaveral,SLC-41
ContractorUnited Launch Alliance
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.6°
Berthing atISS
Berthing portHarmonynadir orUnitynadir

SSC Demo-1,also known asDream Chaser Demo-1,is the planned first flight of theSierra Spacerobotic resupply spacecraftDream Chaserto theInternational Space Station(ISS) under theCRS-2 contractwithNASA.The demonstration mission is planned for launch no earlier than 2025.[2][4]

In April 2021 the Dream Chaser division of the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) was spun-off, creating the new fully independent company, theSierra Space Corporation(SSC), which assumed full oversight over the Dream Chaser program. The company developed a new reusable spacecraft to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS), based on decades of lifting body programs. Under theCommercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS)program, the company designed Dream Chaser with industrial partnerLockheed Martin.

The company also designed the accompanying Shooting Star cargo module with subcontractor Applied Composites.[5]At the end of mission, the Shooting Star will destructively reenter the atmosphere and the Dream Chaser will land at the Kennedy Space Center'sShuttle Landing Facility.

Spacecraft

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TheDream Chaser Cargo Systemwill fly cargo resupply missions to the ISS under NASA'sCommercial Resupply Services-2program. This system features the Shooting Star, an expendable cargo module with solar panels, and the Dream Chaser, a reusable lifting body capable of returning 1,750 kg (3,860 lb) of pressurized cargo toEarthwhile undergoing maximum re-entry forces of 1.5 g.[6][7]

The Dream Chaser design is derived fromNASA'sHL-20 Personnel Launch Systemspaceplaneconcept from the 1990s, which in turn is descended from over 20,000 hours and six decades of experimentallifting bodyvehicles, including theX-20 Dyna-Soar,Northrop M2-F2,Northrop M2-F3,Northrop HL-10,Martin X-24A and X-24B,andMartin X-23 PRIME.[8][9][10][11]

The vehicle to be used in SSC Demo-1 is namedTenacity.[12][13]The Shooting Star carries pressurized and unpressurized cargo, and serves as the power supply for the Dream Chaser.[7]The Shooting Star will have a cargo capacity of 4,536 kg (10,000 lb). Its design is similar to theExolinercargo container shown in Lockheed Martin'sJupiterproposal for NASA's CRS-2.

Mission

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SSC Demo-1 is the Dream Chaser demonstration mission under theCommercial Resupply Services-2(CRS-2) contract withNASA.Production and integration of the Dream Chaser spacecraft is performed inTexas,Colorado,andFlorida.The Dream Chaser is mated with the Shooting Star at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Colorado andHouston,Texas.Sierra Nevada selected ULA'sVulcan Centauras its launch vehicle for this Demo-1 mission and the six contracted NASA CRS-2 missions.[14][15][16]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^VC4L designates that this is a Vulcan Centaur with four solid rocket boosters and a long payload fairing.

References

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  1. ^Zak, Anatoly [@RussianSpaceWeb] (2 September 2020)."Source: The first mission of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser winged orbiter -- American incarnation of the Soviet Spiral space plane -- was penciled for a cargo delivery to #ISS from September 14 to December 5, 2021"(Tweet).Retrieved2 September2020– viaTwitter.
  2. ^abFoust, Jeff (26 June 2024)."ULA changes payloads for second Vulcan launch".SpaceNews.Retrieved5 July2024.
  3. ^"Vulcan".United Launch Alliance.2020.Retrieved19 January2022.Peregrine will fly on a VC2S, Dream Chaser will fly on a VC4L.
  4. ^"Vulcan Centaur VC4 - CRS SNC-1".Next Spaceflight.Retrieved11 February2024.
  5. ^"SNC'S Dream Chaser® Spaceplane's Shooting Star Arrives in Colorado for Integration"(Press release). SNC. 14 May 2020.Retrieved12 August2020.
  6. ^"Sierra Nevada Hopes Dream Chaser Finds" Sweet Spot "of ISS Cargo Competition".SpaceNews. 18 March 2015.Retrieved11 March2020.
  7. ^abGebhardt, Chris (19 November 2019)."SNC Names Dream Chaser cargo module".NASASpaceFlight.com.
  8. ^H. Phillips, Edward (15 July 1991)."Langley Refines Design, Begins Human Factors Tests of Personnel Launch System".Aviation Week & Space Technology. p. 52....The HL-20's baseline design has evolved from manned lifting bodies flown for the Defense Dept, during the 1960s and owes much of its overall layout to the Martin X-24A...
  9. ^R. Dale, Reed (1997)."Wingless Flight The Lifting Body Story"(PDF).NASA. p. 180. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 December 2014.... The NASA lifting-body program has been well documented in about 100 technical reports on the program's 222 flights and 20,000 hours of wind-tunnel tests. Many of these publications are unclassified. The Soviet Union purchased copies of these reports from NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., then designed its own lifting body. In 1982, the Soviets flight-tested an unpiloted, 10-foot-long, subscale version of their lifting body, the BOR-4, including a maneuvering re-entry over theIndian Oceanfrom space orbit. The flight test of the BOR-4 closely resembled that of our PRIME (X-23) vehicle in 1966...Public DomainThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  10. ^R. Asker, James (24 September 1990)."NASA Design for Manned Spacecraft. Draws on Soviet Subscale Spaceplane".Aviation Week & Space Technology. p. 28.... A mock-up of the proposed "space taxi", called the HL-20 Personnel Launch System, closely resembles a Soviet subscale spaceplane flown on four orbital missions in the 1980s... However, Piland, chief of the space systems division at the Langley Research Center, was quick to point out the Soviet test vehicle seems to have evolved from U. S. lifting-body configurations flown from 1966 to 1975 — such as Northrop's HL-10, M2-F2 and M2-F3 and Martin's X-24A and X-24B...
  11. ^Wallace, Lance E. (1996)."Flights of Discovery: 50 Years at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center"(PDF).NASA. p. 72. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 17 February 2015.... The lifting-body program came to an official end in 1975. Yet like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the concept has appeared several times since then in proposed NASA spacecraft. When the Langley Research Center revealed its HL-20 design for an emergency crew return vehicle or small mini-Shuttle in 1990, the shape was remarkably similar to the HL-10 and X-24A designs...Public DomainThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  12. ^"SNC's Dream Chaser Tenacity Spaceplane"(Press release). SNC. 1 May 2020.Retrieved12 August2020.
  13. ^Reed, Nola Taylor (12 August 2020)."Meet 'Tenacity': 1st Dream Chaser space plane gets a name".SPACE.com.Retrieved12 August2020.
  14. ^"SNC selects ULA for Dream Chaser spacecraft launches".United Launch Alliance (ULA). 14 August 2019.
  15. ^Foust, Jeff (14 August 2019)."SNC Selects ULA Vulcan for Dream Chaser Missions".SpaceNews.
  16. ^Bergin, Chris (16 October 2019)."Cargo Dream Chaser solidifies ULA deal for Vulcan".NASASpaceFlight.com.Retrieved2 September2020.
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